Heart Ain't a Brain
by hidden x charade
Summary: The human brain is the only part of the body that controls our behavior. If that is true, then how come our hearts are doing some of the thinking? SxK
1. Heart vs Brain

***New and Past Readers*: If you've noticed, I changed the characters to "Sora & Riku" instead of "Sora & Kairi" because, well, the two main characters in this story are basically the two boys. Kairi doesn't really come into the picture until the last few chapters. Sorry if I spoiled anything to any new peeps out there, but I'm pretty sure I didn't.**

**Chris Brown's song, "Heart Ain't a Brain," influenced me to write this story, hence the title. I'm taking a different approach to it though, since his song was about how he is still in love with this girl and such, while mine is like 'the heart vs. the brain.' Get it? Kinda?**

**This part is what I would call the "informational chapter" of the story. I wouldn't really call it a prologue, since it really isn't much of one. Anyway, happy reading!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the storyline.  


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**They say that the human brain is the control center of the body.

It controls and coordinates the mental and physical actions of a person and is the center of thought and understanding. It receives and interprets sensory impulses, and transmits information to the muscles and body organs. It is the seat of consciousness, thought, memory, and emotion, and contains much intellectual power. Anatomists seemed to have proved that throughout many years of research.

Even with all these facts, Sora just did not believe them.

Why? Because he claims that his heart acts on its own, too.

As much as he wanted to say that the brain was the only thing in his body that had a thought process, he could not help but feel his heart trying to take control of his actions. Ever since he had met her, his mind and his heart were at a constant battle with each other.

His heart wanted Kairi, the beautiful redhead. She was simply astonishing to him. Her violet-blue eyes put him into a trance everytime he glimpsed at them. Her fragrance of sweet strawberries made his senses dance. Just looking at her made his heart beat triple time. However, the main thing that attracted him the most was the pureness of her heart. Sure, she was straight-out gorgeous, but the kindness and sincerity that she held within amazed him.

Since their hearts were connected, he could feel his heart beat in perfect rhythm with hers. He knew they were meant for each other. But when it came to analyzing the situation Sora was in and what the future might store for them, his brain retaliated back.

Of course he agreed with his heart the most. He risked journeying through many different worlds to save Kairi. He had even sacrificed his own heart to restore hers. He wanted to have her with him more than anything.

Unlike his heart, though, his mind thinks before it leaps.

His mind kept telling him that he was the Keyblade Master, the Warrior of the Light. It told him that his duties to save the other worlds would come first, and that would mean leaving the poor princess back at home on the islands, waiting for him to come home. He did not want her to constantly feel alone and worried about his whereabouts, wondering when or if he would ever come home to her welcoming arms.

Besides, what are the chances of him not being able to see her face ever again, anyway? Pretty big, since all the Heartless and Nobodies wanted to tear him to shreds.

At these thoughts, his heart would always criticize him for thinking too much. His heart would argue that it would hurt his best friend more than anything if he decided to ignore their feelings for one another over some ridiculous denouement that he thought up. His brain would then fire back with the same thought of him never coming home and the amount of pain he would cause her if that did happen.

In a way, both the heart and the brain had some good points, but the heart tended to have a more positive view at the relationship whilst the brain made him feel more cautious. He would even wonder if she ever liked him the same way at all.

Sure, they are the best of friends, alongside their silver-headed buddy, Riku. Sora and Riku would always compete for the little redhead's attention, and Riku would always win over him. Riku was always the taller and stronger one of the trio. He was also a big hit with the girls in school. Sora could never compare to someone like that.

Sora also thought that if he did spill the truth to Kairi and she rejects it, it would obliterate their friendship. He did not want to risk losing their friendship over a confession, so he kept his feelings inside. His heart was not very abiding with his actions, but his mind kept telling him that this was the safest way to go.

But what if he wanted to risk stepping off the safe road and into the danger zone?

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**-Well, how'd it go? Was it okay? I know it was quite short, but it was just like.. an informative. Ya know?  
-Hit me up with some feedback if you want to. I'll consider everything y'all say :D**

**Next chapter is coming very, very, very, very soon. Like, ten minutes soon.**


	2. Household Objects

**Okay, I guess I came to a decision with this story. For one, it is going to be a short story. Second, each chapter is probably going to be short, but not any shorter than this one. It's just a 'fun story' I decided to write up.**

**DISCLAIMER: N-o-t-h-i-n-g-.  


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**

"What am I going to get her!" yelled a panicky teenage boy. He was nervously digging through a pile of desultory objects.

"Sora, you've gone through almost every item in your house," said the silver-haired boy. He was calmly sitting on a couch. "And besides, why would you want to give Kairi something from your own home, anyway?"

Sora picked up an item, examined it, and tossed it to the side. He ran his hands through his spiky brown hair. "Because, Riku, no store on Destiny Islands has anything worth giving to her, and I'm running out of ideas."

"So you're going to give her something from your house?"

"No."

"But you just said—"

"I'm just trying to get an idea of what I'm going to give her."

"That's still not going to get you anywhere."

"It's still something!"

Sighing, Riku got up from the couch and walked over to where Sora was sitting. He began to kick the objects away.

"Uh, Riku," asked Sora. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking of something to get Kairi for her birthday out of household objects isn't going to get you anywhere," replied Riku coolly. "Try to think of something from the heart."

_'From the heart?'_ Sora thought to himself. _'How am I supposed to give her something from the heart?'_ Putting his right hand to his chest, he felt his heart beating in a synchronized rhythm. "But Riku, how do I give her something from the heart?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I mean—" he staggered. "When I was in Halloween Town during the time when Jack wanted to become Santa Claus, I remember Sally telling him something around the lines of 'giving from the heart.' Donald and Goofy told me the same thing when I wondered what kind of special gift I would give Kairi for Christmas. I still don't really understand what that all means though."

Realizing what he had just said, Sora nervously averted his gaze to one of the objects he had tossed aside on the floor. He had slightly admitted to Riku, his best friend that would tease him until the end of time, that he liked Kairi. Sure, all he said was that he was thinking of giving Kairi something special for Christmas, but he knew that Riku knew how to read between the lines very, very well.

After a few moments of silence, Sora looked up to see Riku giving him a shocked expression.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Sora, arching an eyebrow. He began to feel his face with his hands. "Is there something on my face?"

"You really don't know what it means to give from the heart?" answered Riku in a surprised manner. He stifled a laugh.

"What's so funny about that?"

"I never expected to hear that answer from you! Especially from someone with one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen."

Sora was pleased yet confused with the answer that Riku had given him. It was either that Riku decided not to pick on him about the Kairi situation, or that he just misheard it altogether. "Well, then, what's your definition of 'giving from the heart,' Sir Birthday Gift Master?"

"To give from the heart is to give without expecting anything in return," Riku started slowly. "It's to show how much you care, not by how much money you put into the gift, but by how much love and thought you put into it. That's what it means to me, and that's what it should mean to you." Walking over to one of Sora's household items that he had kicked away earlier, he picked it up and looked at it with much distaste. "Giving someone, or at least getting ideas, from an item from your own home doesn't show much love at all. Sure, it's a thought and you didn't put money into it, but the love isn't there. Get what I mean?"

Realizing that what Riku said was nothing but wrong, Sora smiled. _'Putting love and thought into a gift, huh,'_ he pondered. _'I wonder what kind of gift I could give to Kairi, then?'_

"Thanks, Riku," he said. "I better get to thinking of what I could give her for a gift. And don't worry, it won't be anything from my house."

"I know of something you could give her."

"What's that?"

Riku smirked and gave him a heavy pat on the shoulder. "Well, I guess I'll see you at Kairi's later!" He headed out the door and began walking down the driveway.

"But, wait, Riku!" hollered Sora. "What was it that you thought I should give her?"

Coming to a halt, Riku turned his head and winked at Sora. "Give her what your heart tells you to give her!" With that said, he continued on his way back home.

Sora just stood there at his door, being as confused as ever.

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**-There we go. The second chapter. Well, technically the first.  
-Review? Feedback? It's all up to you.**

**Next chapter up, uhh, sometime within this week or the beginning of the next.**


	3. Realization

**Here is the next chapter! I hope y'all like it... I was actually quite pleased with how I wrote it. By the way, for any of you that have been wondering: this chapter takes place in the late hours of the morning, approximately around 11:30 to 11:45. The first chapter took place at 11 o'clock. And yes, the story is all within one day. It could possibly roll over to the next day, depending on where I go with it.**

**Ah, whatever. Happy readings!**

**DISCLAIMER: I wish, but I don't own anything.  


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**Lying down on the couch with his feet hanging over the edge of the armrest, all Sora could do was repeat what Riku had said to him in his head over and over again. What was Riku trying to imply to him? It surely had a meaning—but what was it?

'_To give from the heart is to give without expecting anything in return,'_ Sora thought to himself. _'It's to show how much you care, not about the money. But, how am I supposed to show her that?' _Sighing, he brought his hands up to his head and grabbed his hair. He was starting to get frustrated. _'Why do I always find it difficult to get a gift for her birthday instead of anyone else's?'_

Getting out of his position until he was now sitting on the couch, he looked around his living room. The walls were adorned with photos of him and his mother when he was younger. Some of them even had Riku in it. However, only one of the photos caught his eye.

He got up off the couch and walked towards the photo. Now standing in front of it, he began to take-in every detail of it, something he had never done before with any photo.

"Kairi . . ." he whispered.

In the photo was a smaller version of Kairi and himself. They were playing in the ocean, and Kairi was laughing with her hands holding her sides. The target of her laughter was none other than Sora. He was completely drenched, and his hair was plastered to all sides of his face, completely covering his eyes. He looked like a wet mop.

He quietly laughed to himself as he continued to scan the photo. Out of all the photos in his home, this one was his favorite, particularly because a certain redhead was in it with him.

"Man," he sighed. "Why do I lo—"

Realizing what he was just about to say, he made sure he stopped himself so he would not complete his sentence. He shook his head to try to get rid of his previous thoughts.

'_There's no way I could love her,'_ he said. _'We're best friends, not that close. Even if she did love me back, all I will do is cause her pain. Who knows when the worlds might need my help again?'_

Turning his head away from the picture, he headed back towards the couch and sat back down. He propped his left elbow on his knee and rested his head on the palm of his hand.

'_Besides, now is not the time to think of stuff like this. I need to think of what to get her for her birthday!' _He closed his eyes and tried to think of ideas on what to get her. After a short time of contemplating and achieving nothing, he opened his eyes and let out yet another sigh. _'C'mon. There has to be something.'_

Closing his eyes once again, his mind ran through another set of options of birthday gifts. Although he was set on trying to think of the most perfect present for her, his mind drifted off to images of them together, alone on her balcony. They were standing next to each other under the moonlight, arms leaning on the rails. The sounds from her house could not be heard. She slowly turned her head towards him, he turning his to her in return. Staring into her endless abyss of violet-blue, he could not help but notice the love she held for him in her eyes. Realizing that this was the most opportune moment, he lowered his head, whispered something to her, and kissed her on the lips.

Just fantasizing about a moment like that with Kairi made his heart jump over hurdles.

Snapping his eyes open, Sora came to a sudden realization. What happened just now with his thoughts, and his heart going crazy in response—

"Was that—was that what Riku was trying to tell me? Is that what I'm supposed to give to her from the heart?"

He could not take it anymore. Expressing his dying love for Kairi on her birthday, where everything could possibly turn out for the worst? That just made him sick to his stomach and beyond.

"I can't do that to her," he said. He ran his hand through his spiked up mane and leaned back into the couch. He stared up at the ceiling, as if looking for an answer. "What if I completely ruin her birthday? What if she doesn't feel the same? But, if she does feel the same, and I have to leave again—she'll be left her by herself . . ."

What was he going to do? He knew in his heart that he wanted this, he had always tried to express himself to her in some sort of form. But he held back, told himself that he was about to gamble their friendship over a confession that she may not be ready for, and nothing would be the same ever again. He cherished his current relationship with Kairi. She was a great person, always available to talk to, puts on a smile for you during the hard times—something he did not want to risk losing.

Sora was rolling all over the couch. With his current situation, there was no way he could sit still now.

His heart was pounding in his chest, as if it was trying to beat its way out of his ribcage. His head was spinning in massive circles threatening to turn into a headache. Butterflies were flying all around within his stomach. He was becoming numb just from the thoughts of her.

Without really even knowing it, his entire body had turned into a battlefield with each of his organs fighting for complete dominance.  


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**-Kazaam. And that was it for this chapter. Whatcha think? Hope it was suitable!  
-Reviews are welcomed. If you don't want to, that's fine, but... You know, holler every once in a while! It brings a smile to my face.**

**Next chapter up when the weekend comes around?  
**


	4. What Happened Before

**Sorry for not updating when I said I would... I was sort of busy with all of this work I got from school apparently, and I'm also bad at managing my free time. Yet another thing I have to improve on.**

**Maybe to make it up to you guys, I'll have the next chapter posted up later tonight or early tomorrow, since I did have y'all wait a week. I know, it's not that long, but I feel kinda bad. Hope you enjoy the chapter, though!**

**DISCLAIMER: Like all other disclaimers, I don't own anything.  


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**The afternoon sun was at its highest point in the sky. There were many people bustling about in the market streets, buying up foods for their dinner or talking to one another. Children were running around either in the parks or on the beach, splashing each other in the water or attempting to make the biggest sandcastle on the islands. Seagulls were cawing loudly as they floated along the ocean's breeze. No matter where you went on the island, you would always hear some sort of activity going about.

Except for Riku, of course. He would always find the more secluded places.

Sitting on the pier where his and his friends' boats sat, Riku stared out into the ocean towards the children's island. He was supposed to go home after he had left Sora's, but he decided to come here instead to think. There was not much to think about, but Sora's response to his question earlier left him flabbergasted.

'_How in the world did he not know what it meant to give from the heart?'_ Riku asked himself. His silver hair was slightly flying in the breeze. _'Him, out of all people, should have known what that meant. Man, I never thought of him to be so—so oblivious!'_

Riku knew that Sora liked Kairi more than just a 'best friend.' He was practically in love with the girl. It was pretty obvious to Riku how much Sora cared for her, especially when Riku noticed the small drawing in the back of the Secret Place after he returned home.

He also knew that Kairi felt the same for Sora. She had even asked Riku to help her get Sora alone with her one time.

-----

_Out in the tree house on the children's island, Riku and Kairi were sitting down on the bare wooden floor. Their spiky-headed friend had just left to chase after Wakka and Tidus, who had thrown coconuts through the window and hit his head in the process._

_It was silent between the two friends, but Riku saw on Kairi's face that something was on her mind. Her face was slightly slanted into a small, saddened expression as she was looking towards the door that Sora left through. That was all the information Riku had needed to know exactly what she was thinking about._

"_Yo, Kairi," he said, breaking the silence. "What's up? Something on your mind?"_

"_Oh—uh, nothing," she replied. She looked towards him and noticed that he was giving her the 'yeah, right' look. Knowing that he knew she was lying, she sighed and decided to continue. "Well, okay, there is something on my mind, but I would feel a little awkward if I said it."_

"_C'mon, Kairi. Just tell me! I promise I won't make fun of you, whatever it is."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Swear it."_

"_Ah, okay, well—" she said, averting her eyes to the floor. "I know this may sound weird when I ask you this, but—but don't take it the wrong way! If it comes out wrong, I don't mean it. Just don't laugh at me, it'll just make me feel more embarrassed than I already am—"_

"_Get it out already!" he interrupted. He was holding in his laughter at her uneasiness._

"_Is there—is there any possible way—that you could get Sora and I alone together? I've been trying, but it never seems to happen."_

_Not really expecting that question but happy that it came out of her, Riku smiled and began to laugh. Realizing that he was laughing, Kairi shot him an angry yet playful look._

"_Hey, I told you not to laugh!"_

"_I'm not laughing because of what you said," he said after calming down. He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm laughing because someone finally admits it!"_

"_Admits what, exactly?"_

"_That you like each other! Are you both that oblivious, or is it just me?"_

_Looking to the floor again in defeat, Kairi sighed. "Well, I don't think it's me that's oblivious to it all. I think it's him."_

"_We are talking about Sora here."_

"_I know, that's why it's so hard for me to tell him how I feel," she said silently, returning her gaze to the entryway. "I don't know if he'll be surprised, happy, scared, or even mad if I told him. That's why I need your help in getting him alone with me since he tends to get distracted and run off somewhere. If you can help me with that, then I can try and get it out of him first before I tell him anything about my feelings."_

"_Well, if that's the case, then sure, I can help you."_

"_Really?" she asked excitedly, a hint of happiness gleaming in her eyes. "Thank you, Riku! But, how are we going to do that? I've never seen him with so much energy before."_

"_That's what you get after fighting and adventuring constantly," he replied with a smirk. "And now that that's all over, I'm not surprised that he finds it hard to keep still on this island since he was pretty used to jumping from world to world. But anyway, let me work my Riku ways and get you two alone on the paopu tree when the sun sets. Sound good to you?"_

"_Yeah, I guess we could give that a shot." Out in the distance, they could hear Sora screaming and a huge splash a little afterwards. "Maybe we should go save him from Wakka and Tidus, though. Thank you again, Riku, but try not to spy on us, okay? I would just get more nervous."_

-----

Of course, their plan did not turn out too well.

Riku was able to get them together on the paopu tree (and yes, he decided not to listen to Kairi and spy on them anyway) and everything was going fine until Kairi was unconsciously scooting closer to Sora. Riku could tell that Sora was getting tense and nervous, and as a result, he lost control of himself and fell face-first into the ocean. After that, Kairi's hopes on Sora expressing himself to her started to dwindle.

It had only been two days since that happened, but Riku was sure that Kairi was losing hope fast. And so, to make it up to her, he was going to try and get them alone at Kairi's birthday party. It would be hard since Selphie, another one of their friends, was the type of person to unknowingly intrude on special moments, but he was going to make sure that nothing bad would happen, and if that meant toughening Sora up a bit as well, then so be it.

"Guess I will have to make another visit to Sora's later," he said with a confident smirk. Getting up from his position on the pier, he finally decided to head home and do some last-minute things before teaching Sora how to handle himself around a girl.  


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**-Whew. That was a bit of a hassle. I didn't really think I was going to do a Riku chapter, but I thought, "why not?" I don't think I'll be writing a Kairi chapter though. It's more fun to focus on the dudes of the story. Alas, if you want me to write up a Kairi chapter, then just lemme know in a review or message.  
-Once again, reviews are appreciated, but not asked for.**

**Next chapter: it will be soon.  
**


	5. Lady Problems

**Yes! I was able to write another chapter of this story in the time I said I would. I have finally accomplished something. Well, as promised, here it is. Oh, and by the way, I sort of re-edited this after I put this chapter up, so if you've read it already and decided to read it again, and you notice some differences in here, don't be alarmed. It's just some new stuff.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: Thou does not own Kingdom Hearts.  


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**Within a span of one hour after returning home, Riku was able to do his laundry, clean up his room, and add the finishing touches to Kairi's birthday present with some wrapping paper and a bow. Knowing that he had nothing to do for the rest of the day until the party, he decided that now would be the best time to give another visit to Sora.

With Kairi's present held firmly to his side with his right arm, he said goodbye to his mother and headed towards the direction of his best friend's house. Walking on the sidewalk, Riku could not help but think about how much Destiny Islands had not changed.

'_Even though I've been gone for almost two years, nothing has changed about this place,'_ he thought to himself. _'The people here are still as happy as ever, the beaches are still the best around, and the sun is always blazing hot. I might have to get a haircut soon.'_

As he continued to walk along the sidewalk, he noticed that the people across the street were pointing at him. He first thought that they were looking at something that was close to him, but when they started making exaggerating gestures towards their hair, it clicked in his mind that they were talking about him.

'_Yeah, I'll be needing a haircut.'_

Reaching Sora's house a few strides later, Riku let himself in. He and Sora were not always fond of knocking on each other's doors, so they made an agreement back when they were ten years old to keep their doors unlocked in case one of them decided to drop by. Their parents were questionable about it at first, but after a while, they sucked it up and chose to get used to it.

"Hey, second mother," Riku said to a woman in an apron as he entered the kitchen. He placed Kairi's present on the counter.

"Hey, second son," replied the woman. With the brown hair and the entrancing blue eyes, you could tell that this person was Sora's mother. "What are you up to this time?"

"Nothing bad, if that's what you're thinking," he answered, Sora's mother smirking in reply. "Just came over to get some things done with Sora before Kairi's party tonight."

"Oh, that's right. It is Kairi's birthday today! But, I must ask. What 'things' are you two going to be getting done?"

"To be honest, it is more of me getting something done with Sora."

"And what would that be, exactly?"

Riku crossed his arms, making it seem like the situation was serious. "Miss, I'm afraid that your son is having lady problems."

"Ah, lady problems," she said, dramatically putting her hand to her forehead. "Sounds just like his father. What am I ever going to do? I am guessing that he is having lady problems with Kairi?"

Riku averted his gaze to the floor, as if he was saddened. "Yes, I'm afraid that is the case."

She reassuringly put a hand on his shoulder, making him return his gaze to her. "Well then, get cracking on that boy and give him the manly advice he needs. If you need to slap him, I give you my permission. It worked on his father, so I'm sure it will work on him."

"You can count on me, second mother!" He said with a laugh. He saluted her, headed out of the kitchen, and started walking up the stairs. He could hear Sora's mom laughing back in the kitchen, saying something inaudible about Sora and his 'lady problems.' Once he had reached Sora's room, he noticed that something seemed a bit off.

"Since when did you start locking your room?" Riku yelled, loud enough so that Sora could hear him.

"Ever since my mom and my best friend decided to talk in soap opera style in my kitchen!" Sora yelled back in response. Riku heard the sound of rustling bedsheets. His friend most likely had finished his early afternoon sleep, like most of the other times whenever he came over.

"Well, if you don't open this soon, I'm going to kick it open." He readied his foot.

"Do you know how many times we've had to replace my door because of your actions, Riku? There are better ways on settling things, especially about opening doors!"

He drew back his kicking leg further behind him. "I'm going to count to three."

"What do you think I am, a child?"

"One—"

"Don't you start this again, mister."

"Two—"

"Riku, you got to be kidding me!"

"Three—"

"Okay, okay, you win!" Sora yelled as he opened the door. Riku brought his foot from his kicking position and barged right in. He took his normal seat in Sora's computer chair and glanced around the room.

"Dude, this place is a mess," he exclaimed, motioning towards the small piles of clothing and paperwork scattered around the floor. There were jackets and shirts poking out of the closet as well. "If I didn't know any better, then I would say that the bogeyman actually existed, and it lives in your closet."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Clean," Sora replied sarcastically. He plopped down on his bed and turned his attention to the silver-headed mammal sitting in his computer chair. "Now, other than the fact that you and my mother insist that I have lady problems, what are you here for?"

"You just said it."

Sora looked at him blankly. "What proof do you have of me having lady problems?"

Riku put his arms behind his head and leaned back casually in the chair. "Well, there was the time when you first saw Kairi in a bikini and you almost drowned in the small lake by the waterfall," he started, looking up towards the ceiling. "You almost fainted after Kairi thanked you with a hug after you returned her lucky charm to her. Oh, and the time when you two were sitting on the paopu tree a few days ago—"

"Okay, don't bring that one up. I get the idea," Sora interrupted, arms waving at his friend to stop. His face was turning slightly red from the embarrassment. "I'm guessing that you know that I like Kairi, then?"

Riku returned his attention towards Sora. "Isn't it just so painstakingly obvious?"

"Is it really?"

"Man, what planet are you two on?" Riku asked, putting his hand to his forehead as if he was suffering a headache. "Everyone notices it, Sora. Everyone! You're just so blind to it all. It shocks me. Well, not really, but you know what I mean."

"But what am I supposed to do? I've already made a big fool out of myself whenever we are alone together, and she probably doesn't want to deal with me again and again if I just embarrass myself every single time."

"Exactly. So, I am offering you the chance of a lifetime."

"Really, now," Sora said monotonously, expressing that he was uninterested. "What would that be? And what are you now? You went from an actor from a soap opera, to Mr. Clean, and this time, to an advertiser."

"I'm being an advertiser at the moment," Riku answered slyly. He rested his elbows on his legs and leaned forward. He meant business. "And what I'm about to offer you now is the chance to be able to give Kairi the greatest birthday present in the world."

"What?" Now this caught Sora's attention. "Why are you offering me this when you could have given her this so-called 'best birthday present in the world'?"

"My god, Sora, are you that naïve?" Riku scooted the chair closer to Sora, and when he got close enough, he slapped him in the face. "I'm pretty sure Kairi would want this present more from you way more than me!"

"Hey, what was that for?!"

Riku crossed his arms. "Your mom gave me permission to slap you whenever I felt like it."

"Well, what did I do to deserve this punishment? Did I say something stupid?"

"When was the last time you had said anything smart, for once?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sora gently rubbed the spot where Riku had slapped him. It was slightly turning red, but he was not bothered with it at the moment. "Back to what you were saying. What is this present you were talking about?"

"Will you hear me out this time?"

Sora looked at him with suspiscion. "Yes, as long as you don't slap me."

"Good. Now, listen up, because what I'm about to say might make you hurt yourself."

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**-Haha. Well, I left you with a slight cliffhanger. I must say, though. This is the most dialogue I have ever put into a story before, let alone a chapter. Woo-wee.  
-As I always say, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I'll try to update quicker than having y'all wait one week.  
-Reviews: most definitely welcome. Are they asked for? Nahh.**

**Next chapter: As quick as I can get it up!  
**


	6. Finalizing the Deal

**Man, today was kind of boring. What better way to cure boredom than to write up another chapter? Hope it fills you with bundles of joy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I think I should start copy and pasting. No, I don't own a single thing but the storyline.  


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**Down in the kitchen, Sora's mother was sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine and happily eating out of a bowl of fresh strawberries. When she turned the page, her eyes caught sight of the celebrity couple's section. She could not help but to put on a smile.

'_It's so cute how my boy happens to have lady problems,'_ she thought to herself. _'I thought he would get my side of the genes when it came to love, but no. Poor kid had to inherit his father's. But, I guess they're both exactly the same. The hair, the smile_—_even the personality. He was more goofy than romantic, anyway.'_

Taking her eyes off of the magazine, she looked towards the stairs. There was no sound being emitted from the second floor. She was surprised that she had not heard the door getting tackled down or Sora screaming nonsense yet. That was a first.

Sighing, she bit into another strawberry. _'I wonder what those two are doing, though. It's kind of unusual to have it this quiet in the house while Riku's over here.__'_

A moment later, she heard a shout and then a thump. Knowing that Riku must have finally done something to pull her son's plug, she returned her gaze to the magazine. She flipped to the page with the crossword puzzle and started writing words down.

'_Oh, I guess I spoke too soon.'_

-----

"C'mon, Sora, it's not that big of a deal!" said Riku to his spiky-haired friend that was lying on the ground.

Sora looked up at him from his position on the floor. His face looked angry, but he was frightened beyond belief. "It most definitely is, Riku! I can't just go up to her and kiss her, especially on her birthday! What if I completely ruin it for her? And to add to that, I don't think I'll be needing lessons on how to handle a girl!"

"I doubt that you would kiss her."

"Oh, yeah, sure. You know how girls are these days. A simple kiss could either blow their mind away to La-La Land or scar them for the rest of eternity. They can even have mood swings that are worse than rollercoasters with five loops, six twists, and three straight drops! Do you have any idea how bad that sounds?"

"You're rambling on about pointless junk. That's what it sounds like."

"Maybe, just maybe, it's because someone that I thought was wise just told me that the greatest birthday gift in the world was to kiss her!"

Riku crossed his arms and stared directly into Sora's eyes, aquamarine piercing through ocean blue. "You know you want to do it."

"But—"

"No buts, man," Riku interrupted. "I told you that you should give her something from the heart, right? Now, tell me this. What is your heart telling you to give her?"

Turning his head to break out of Riku's stare, Sora sighed. His anger suddenly subsided and was replaced with uncertainty. "That's the thing. I don't know what it's telling me."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just—" he started quietly. He stood up from the floor and went back to his original position on his bed before he continued. "To be honest with you, I've always dreamed of kissing Kairi. It seems like she feels the same way, but I'm just scared. What if she actually doesn't like me in that way? But if she does like me, what if we get called out again to save the worlds once more? What if—what if we don't come back next time?"

Riku let out a small chuckle. He knew that answer was coming. "You know what, I say that you're thinking too much, and you're thinking too negatively. Listen to what your heart is telling you. Most likely, it's right."

"How would you know? I don't recall you being an organ expert."

"Well, what do you feel when you're around Kairi?"

Taken back by the sudden question, it took Sora a moment to realize what Riku had just asked him. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what it felt like being around the redheaded beauty. He smiled at the thought of her.

"I feel—I feel like I'm on the top of the world," he said dreamily. "Butterflies, eagles, dragons, anything with wings would be flying all around in my stomach, and my heart always feels like it's about to pop out of my chest."

"Exactly." Riku brought his left hand to his chest and placed it where his heart was. "We all know that hearts don't have brains and that it can't really think on its own, but those feelings that you get when you're around her, that's not the brain. That's the heart. The only thing that the brain does for the heart is to tell it when to pump blood throughout our body. Sure, the brain may be telling it to pump faster out of feeling nervous, but really, the heart is just excited that someone special is nearby."

Sora copied Riku's motions and brought his hand to his chest. "So, what you're saying is that my brain and my heart are operating separately when it comes to Kairi?"

That caught Riku by surprise. He was not exactly expecting that answer, but he took it all the same. "Uh, if you're going to put it that way, then yeah, I suppose so."

"This may sound a little crazy, but how am I going to get my brain and my heart to work together?" asked Sora. He brought his hands down to his sides and started playing with the sheets of his bed. "The only way I can express what my heart's telling me is by allowing my brain to think the way my heart does, and I find that kind of difficult with all that's going on now and what might happen in the future."

"Just trust your heart's instincts, that's all." Riku got up from the chair and lifted Sora off of the bed. He tossed Sora into the closet and closed the door. "Now, hurry up and get changed. We need all the time we can get to get you ready for tonight."

"You can't be serious!" yelled a muffled voice in response.

"But I am."

"How do you expect me to learn how to tell Kairi how I feel within one day? There's no way you're going to make me do this!"

Becoming more frustrated and impatient than he already was, Riku decided to take it to the next level. He quickly and quietly exited Sora's room and headed towards the bathroom down the hall. Turning on the light, he opened up the cabinet door underneath the sink and found the greatest weapon of all: a shaver.

Smirking evilly with a hint of malice in his eyes, he left the bathroom and headed straight for Sora's room.

-----

Ten minutes later, Sora's mother was found busy putting dishes away in the kitchen when she heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs. When she was done placing a stack of plates in the kitchen closet, she turned around to find the two teens about to head out the door to the backyard.

"Hey, boys, before you go, can you help me put away the dish—Sora, why do you look so scared?"

Before Sora could utter a sound in reply, Riku answered for him. "He wasn't agreeing with the offer I made to him, so I threatened to shave off all of the hair on his head if he didn't cooperate."

She shook her head. "Sora, do what Riku says and fix up your lady problems, huh? I'd rather not see you walking around here with a shiny bald head. That would bother me for years, and your father and I would spend all of our money on hair re-growth for you. Shoot, I'd even put you into hair surgery, if those actually exist."

Riku shoved Sora out the door and handed his mother the shaver. "Don't worry about that, he won't be needing treatments or surgeries anytime soon as long as he works with me. If you excuse us, we have some lessons to catch up on before his beloved's party comes up tonight." He turned to leave, but his eyes caught sight of a bowl of magnificently red and delicious strawberries. An idea then clicked in his mind. Picking the bowl up, he returned his attention to Sora's mother. "If you don't mind, can I use these strawberries? I think I have a way of making them useful."

"Aw, but Riku," she said with a pout. "They're already useful. They fill up space in my tummy when it's angry and starts to growl at me."

"Think about it, second mother," Riku replied, sounding desperate. "What is more important to you—Sora's mental disability with women cured, or your tummy filled with these red delicacies?"

She brought a hand to her chin and struck a thinking pose. "Well, if you put it that way, then my boy's issue is more important." She took her hand off her chin and gave him the scolding finger. "But, you better get me another batch of strawberries when you're done! Make sure they're the ones from Destiny Mart. You got me?"

"It's a deal." And with that, he walked out the door with the strawberries to the backyard and headed towards the bewildered Sora to start the first lesson.

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**-Enjoyable? I cross my fingers and hope it was!  
-We're about halfway there! I'd say we got about... 5 or 6 more chapters to go? Maybe more.**

**Next chapter: Tomorrow?! Monday?! Tuesday?! I dont know!  
**


	7. Lesson Number One

**Totally sorry for not updating like I said I would, again. I've been slacking lately, and I'm becoming all tired and lazy due to being sick and being thwomped with homework. Is thwomped a word? I think it is. If it isn't, then it is now.**

**DISCLAIMER: Nothing.  


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**Out in the backyard, poor Sora was sitting at a wooden picnic table awaiting his 'lesson' while Riku was busily walking around picking flowers out of the garden. He picked an assortment of colors, ranging from white, yellow, red, and blue. When he was done, he walked back over to Sora, carefully laid the flowers down on the table, and took his seat opposite of his friend.

"What are these items that I have put before you?" asked Riku.

"Those are flowers," Sora said matter-of-factly. "Who do you think I am? It's not like I'm still in preschool."

"Chill, bud, I'm just making sure." He pointed to the first batch of white flowers. "Let's see what you know. What are these flowers called?"

"Uh, they're white flowers."

"I know that. But what are they called?"

"I don't know what they're called! I don't know any names of white flowers. I only know the names of a few of the other colored ones. I don't study flowers for a living."

"Well, for reference, these are called honesty flowers. They attract butterflies."

"You remind me of Marluxia," Sora spat in disgust. "I never knew that someone could just be so—so flowery! But, since when did you become the flower expert?"

"That's what happens when you live with a mother who actually studies flowers, mind you," Riku replied. He pointed to the next batch. "Do you know what these yellow ones are called, at least?"

"Oh, those are tulips."

"Hey, he knows something!" Riku cheered happily. Sora rolled his eyes in response. "How about these red ones?"

"That's a rose."

"Why would you think that these are roses?"

"Because, they're red," he stated simply.

"Just because they're red doesn't mean that they're roses, you know. Roses have petals that are kind of packed into the middle of the stem and have a spiraling look to it. They also have thorns on their stems. These flowers have more of a bell-like shape and the petals are opened up, revealing most of the center. These flowers are called penstemons."

"Never would have guessed."

"Now, how about these blue flowers? You must know what these flowers are called."

Sora took a good look at the batch of blue flowers. After a few moments of contemplation, he gasped. _'I've been looking for this flower everywhere!'_ he thought. _'When did my mom start growing these in the backyard?'_

"I'm guessing that you do know what these are, then?" Riku said, breaking Sora out of his short reverie.

"Yeah, I do know what these are," Sora said quietly as he stuck his hand out to gently touch the blue petals. "These are Kairi's flowers—no, I mean, the flowers are called Jacob's Ladder, but they're Kairi's favorite."

"If you knew that they were her favorite kind, then why didn't you get her some?"

"I never knew where to find them!"

"They've been in your backyard for ages, Sora."

"How would you know my house better than me?"

"Maybe if you looked around more than just the kitchen and your own room, I'd gladly say that I don't know your house more than you do. But, being you, that won't happen for a while." Riku scooped up the honesty, tulip, and penstemon flowers and stuck them back in the ground from where he had first picked them up.

"Uh, Riku," Sora yelled to his friend across the backyard. "Are you sure that you could put those flowers back into the ground after you had already pulled them out?"

"I don't know," he hollered back after patting the soil on the ground for the last flower. "But it doesn't hurt to fill-in all of the empty holes I put in your garden after pulling them out."

He walked back over to the picnic table and picked up the Jacob's Ladder flowers. He motioned his head towards the small opening in the backyard, beckoning Sora to follow him. Once they reached the clearing, Riku stated his business.

"It's time to give you lesson number one," he said, giving the flowers to Sora. "I'm going to teach you what to look for when you give flowers to a girl."

"Why do I need to learn that?" asked Sora. "Don't I just say something like, 'hey, I got flowers for you,' and give them to her?"

"Nope, it's not all that simple. There are signs that show that girls want something more than just flowers. Sometimes they'll give signs that they want to strike up a good conversation with you, or get some alone time together away from other people. You might even get a hug or a kiss."

Sora could not help but blush from the last word that Riku had said. Just thinking about it made his heart run a marathon, jump over hurdles, and do a pole vault.

"Let's—let's not get too ahead of ourselves," he said, trying to calm himself down. "But, what are these signs that I'm looking for?"

"Well, let's start simple. When you give a girl flowers, they would do one of three things: look at it with a confused face, smile and smell it, or stare at it in awe. When they look at it with a confused face, that means that you failed and got her a flower that she doesn't like. When she smiles and smells it, that normally means that she's okay with it and trying to show you that she likes it even though she kind of doesn't. The one that you want is when she stares at it in awe. That usually means that she really likes it. That's the one you want to aim for, and that's the one you can only get when you get them their favorite flower. Otherwise, you don't have much luck."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Like I said. My mother studies a lot of things about flowers. Notice how I emphasize 'a lot' more than the other words."

"Right. Is that all I look for?"

"Not exactly. After she's done staring at it, you try to see if she'll do one of the next three things: look you back in the eye and start talking to you, keep her hands firmly around the flower, or start to fiddle with it. If she starts talking to you, don't have a nervous break down like you normally do and start to falter. Some girls think that's cute, but after you do that for a while, it gets tiring, like how Kairi sort of is now with your little mishaps. So, don't do that. Strike a conversation with her. If her hands are firmly around the flower, that means that she wants to put the flower away, resulting in her running off somewhere and possibly not coming back. If she starts to fiddle with it, that means that she's nervous and doesn't know what to say or do and is waiting for you to do something. You want to aim for either the talking part or the fiddling part, but you mainly want the fiddle because something is bound to happen after that."

"What do you mean that 'something is bound to happen'?"

"Just, trust me. I know these things."

"Okay. What do I do after that?"

"That is what I will teach you in the next lesson, depending on how this one goes first. Let's get you in some practice."

"Practice?" Sora exclaimed. His face held the looks of uncertainty and pure confusion. "How am I going to practice this, and who am I practicing with?"

"Look for the things I told you to look for, that's all," Riku replied with a smirk. "And, who else would you practice with? You're going to be practicing with me!"

"You've got to be kidding, right?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure that I'm not kidding."

"This is going to be so awkward."

-----

Back in the kitchen, Sora's mother had just finished putting the last of the dishes away in the kitchen closet and was now cleaning the countertops. There was a radio that was set to a low volume and was playing a catchy song.

"Celebrate good times, come on!" she sang loudly as she cleaned. She wanted to bust out some killer dance moves, but she thought that Sora or Riku would randomly pop out of nowhere and catch her in her embarrassing act, so she decided to contain herself and replace the urge with singing. "There's a party goin' on right here, a celebration to last throughout the years!"

When she finished the countertops, she went to the cabinet underneath the sink and retrieved the window cleaner. Grabbing a paper towel, she sprayed the window looking out to the backyard and started wiping it down. While she was cleaning, she noticed Sora and Riku doing something on the opposite side of the window, causing her to stop midway.

"Why does Sora look so nervous?" she asked herself as she stared at her son. She then looked over at Riku and began to examine him. "And why does Riku look all serious?"

Squinting to get a glimpse of what Sora held in his hands, her eyes widened in shock as she realized what they were.

"Are those my Jacob's Ladders? They must be. There's nowhere else on the island to get them but in my backyard."

She watched as Sora slowly extended his hand to Riku's, giving him the flowers. Her face was suddenly smacked with confusion.

"Why is Sora giving him flowers?" she asked a bit too loudly, although no one could hear her. "They can't be—oh, but what if they were—?"

Before she finished her thought, she saw Riku smack Sora's hand and started to scold him. She sighed in relief.

"I should have known. It was one of the lessons."

-----

"No, Sora, you can't give them to her like that!" exclaimed Riku as he held the flowers in his hand. "You can't give these to Kairi with a shaky hand. That shows uncertainty and that you have no confidence whatsoever. Show that you have confidence!" He gave the flowers back to Sora. "Now, try it again."

"Do you know how—how strange this feels, Riku?" asked Sora. "Not only just giving Kairi the flowers, but to you at the moment, too! It feels so strange to give this to another guy, especially since this guy happens to be my best friend! If my mom sees what we are doing out here, she would think that I'm trying to confess my love to you, which I'm not!"

"First off, chill out, dude. If people see us doing this, then fine, so be it. But we both know the intentions of this lesson, and that's all we do need to know. Second, you're technically not giving them to me. You're giving them to Kairi, which we are practicing for right now."

"It's kind of hard to imagine your silver hair as her red hair. That's quite a big transition of color."

"Whatever, man. Let's get this lesson done. You're stalling." He lifted up his wrist and looked down at his imaginary watch.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." He took a step closer to Riku and stood there holding the flowers behind his back. He began to slowly rock back and forth on his heels, going unnoticed by Riku. "Hey, Kairi. Can I talk to you?"

"Oh, of course, Sora," Riku said in a high-pitched voice, trying to at least sound a bit feminine. "What's up?"

"Well, it's actually more of a gift."

"Really? Sora, you shouldn't have!"

"But, it's your birthday, and I wanted to make it special." He brought his hands from behind his back and showed the flowers. "I know you like these flowers, so I decided to get them for you. I would have gone to get them for you a long time ago, but I never knew that my mom actually grew them in our own backyard."

"Oh, Sora, darling, these are beautiful!" Riku said mockingly as he took the flowers and began to sniff them.

"Ah, Riku, come on. Would she really just 'smile and smell it' instead of 'stare at it in awe' like you said she would? And I don't recall her ever using the word 'darling' in a sentence."

"Well, with the way you were going at it, I probably would have just took it and ran. But anyway, it's not like I was trying to be exactly like Kairi. I was just trying to act like a girl, that's all." He took the flowers back over to the picnic table and carefully set them down. "That wasn't too bad this time around, though. I'd have you practice more on that, but we're running out of time. Might as well move on to the next step."

"And what would that next step be?"

"What do you think it's going to be?" he stated rather simply. He sat down and motioned for Sora to sit across from him. "You're going to learn how to keep a conversation going and knowing the right way to end it. Falling off paopu trees into the water is not the proper way of doing things these days, wouldn't you agree?"  


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**-I have a question: When is the right time to use the word "laid" and "lay"? In English like, maybe a week or so ago, a person that was practicing to be a teacher told us that we had to use "lay" for the past tense, like "lay down" instead of "laid down." I don't know if I heard that right, but I'm just lost with it all. Could anyone help me out? I'd actually like to know the proper way of writing the past tense of the word correctly. I kinda feel like I've been doing it wrong.  
-I promise I will try harder to update when I say I will. Yet another good example of my horrible procrastination abilities.  
-Reviews, anyone? I actually love the reviews I'm getting now. I enjoy reading them :)**

**Next chapter: I don't think I can guarantee anything anymore, but I'm aiming for by the end of the weekend.  
**


	8. Lesson Number Two

**Well, hate to tell ya, but I think my updates are gonna be this slow for a while. Third quarter kinda sucks, and I'm getting a lot more work than before. Plus, my AAU season started, taking up about a three hour chunk of my day. Weekend will be hard to manage because of tournaments, so... Yeah. Hopefully the updates won't take longer than a week. I wanna keep that to a minimum.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Kingdom Hearts.  


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**Taking a seat on the opposite side of the table, Sora glanced around his backyard so that he would not make immediate eye contact with his best friend. His current situation made him feel uneasy. So, instead of listening to Riku's babble, he watched as squirrels chased after each other on top of the fences. He noticed how slightly the plants swayed in the breeze. In the far distance, he could see the faint glimmers from the deep blue ocean. He looked up into the sky and watched the seagulls—

"Are you even listening to me?" yelled Riku, interrupting Sora's scenery watching.

"Huh?" Sora said, still keeping his eyes off Riku. "When did you start talking?"

"Ever since you sat down."

"My bad."

"See, this is what we have to work on. I can tell that you're feeling nervous because you're looking everywhere but at me. If Kairi saw this, she'd probably think that you don't want to talk to her. I'm pretty sure you don't want her to think that, do you?"

Feeling a sudden sense of determination, Sora quickly shifted his eyes towards Riku. "No, I don't want that!"

"Good, soldier. Let's get started. Now, how far have you gone with a girl?"

"Uh, what?" Sora replied, starting to get red in the face.

"Just answer the question."

"Well," he turned his head to look away, as if in shame, "The farthest I've gone was a hug—"

"Don't turn your head away from me!" Riku yelled, getting back Sora's attention. "Keep your eyes on me no matter what I say or ask. How about you answer this: do you do anything with yourself when you're all alone?"

This time, Sora could feel all of the heat rushing to his cheeks without the help from the sun. "Why are you asking me these questions?! I don't get how this is supposed to help me!"

"Think about it. If I can ask you the most embarrassing questions and you can answer them with confidence, then I'm sure that you could be able to answer any of Kairi's questions or talk to her for a long period of time. Understand what I'm getting at here?"

"Yeah, I guess. But, I think that trying to talk to Kairi alone would be far more different than what we're trying to accomplish here."

"Just answer my questions, and let's get through this lesson. We only have a few more hours to go until the party starts." He sat up straight and tried to imitate a business-like position. "Would you ever make out with me, Wakka, or Tidus if I asked you to?"

"What the—"

"Don't snap. Answer the question properly. Did you ever dream about doing things to a teacher?"

"No!"

"Don't yell, either. Proper answers, Sora, proper answers. Have you ever caught your parents in the actions of—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

"Don't you dare ever interrupt me again," Riku said, starting to get annoyed with the spiky-haired beast in front of him. "You're getting kind of stubborn."

"If you think that, then I don't think we're going to get far in this lesson."

"Well, instead of me asking the questions, how about I have someone else ask? I'll even have them ask different questions instead."

"Who is going to ask them this time?"

Instead of giving an immediate answer, Riku grabbed the bowl of strawberries that were idly sitting at the edge of the table and picked out six. He shaped the six into what looked like an abstract human figure, with two strawberries for legs, one for the body, two for the arms, and one for the head. He picked up two small pebbles from the ground and stuck them into the face, using them as eyeballs. Hovering his hand over his art, he muttered, "Magnet." Then, much to Sora's surprise, when Riku picked up the strawberry man, it perfectly stayed in place.

"This is going to be the one asking the questions," Riku said, waving the strawberry man's arm as if making it say hello to Sora. "We are going to pretend that this is Kairi."

"Riku, I think you have gone insane," Sora said, not taking his eyes off the strawberry man. "This isn't 'someone' asking me questions. This is a 'something.' And this doesn't even look like Kairi! How am I going to pretend that this fruit monster is her?"

"Well, like how you said when you see a red flower, you instantly claim it to be a rose, right? So, in this case, you can instantly think that this red little human is Kairi."

"Don't use that on me."

"You put this on yourself by making the rose statement."

"But, hold on a second. That thing—I mean, Kairi can't talk! How is it going to ask me questions?"

"What you talkin' 'bout, Sora?" said Riku in a high-pitched voice as he moved the strawberry man around. He sounded like one of the people who voice puppets on television shows. "I can definitely talk!"

"This is crazy. You're still the one asking questions, Riku."

"It's not Riku asking the questions! It's me, the strawberry man! Just look at me directly and try to imagine Kairi as me."

"Why should I?"

"Just do it, or I'll make you," Riku said in his regular tone.

Deciding that it would be best to follow Riku's directions, Sora focused on the strawberry man and tried to imagine it as Kairi's face. As he stared, he could not help but think that the red color reminded him a lot of Kairi's hair. He even remembered how she smelt of strawberries. He was so mesmerized with the red that he completely forgot about the strawberry figure and saw a faint image of Kairi's face.

"K-Kairi?" Sora stuttered, shocked by how he was able to accomplish what Riku had asked him to do.

"Oh, this is actually working?" Riku said in his high-pitched voice. Sora frowned at the thought of seeing Kairi's mouth move to the words and having Riku's voice replace her angelic one. "Anyway, how are you today?"

"I'm feeling good, actually."

"That's good to know. I can't wait until my party. You're coming tonight, right?"

"Yeah, of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Riku tried to make a giggle sound, but it came out as a dying horse. "I wonder what present I'm going to get. I want to make this the best birthday ever!"

"The—the best birthday ever?" Sora said, repeating those four words in his head. _'What if I accidentally make it her worst?'_ "Of course it would be. No birthday could—no birthday could ever be better than yours!"

"Aw, what makes you say that?"

"Be—be—because," he stuttered, trying to arrange the right words in his head, "It's always the best birthday since you were born—you were born on that day. And—and if you weren't born on that day, I—I wouldn't have met—you."

"How sweet, Sora, but you have to say it with confidence!" Riku yelled in his original voice, causing Sora's image of Kairi to fade back into the strawberry man. "Con-fi-dence! Do I have to spell it out for you? Sure, you can sound a little bashful, but don't stutter like you're some sort of machine that's about to break down! It'll make it sound like you're trying to plan out what you say. Girls like on-the-spot responses. It makes it seem like you're thinking more from the heart. Remember what I told you before. Trust in your heart's instincts. It's most likely right, anyway."

"Ugh, not with this heart and brain stuff again," Sora said, slamming his head onto the table. "It's going to give me a headache."

"You're going to get a headache if you slam your head on the table like that again. Other than that, I think you did a pretty good job conversing with the strawberry man. I knew he could come in handy."

"Was that your original intention with the strawberries?" Sora asked, bringing his head back up to look at Riku. "I don't think you're the type of person to immediately come up with making strawberry men as a lesson on handling lady problems."

"No, I didn't think of making a strawberry man when I got the strawberries from your mom. It kind of just, came to mind, I guess." Grabbing the bowl of strawberries, he got up off the table and walked over to the small clearing. He took a seat on the ground. "But, I was planning on using the strawberries for this next lesson I'm about to give to you. Come over here and sit down across from me. It's going to be the last one, I promise!"

"I don't like the sound of this one," Sora mumbled as he slowly made his way towards Riku. Little did the two boys know that the next lesson was being caught on tape by Sora's mother.  


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**-This is probably one of the shorter chapters, since I wasn't planning on making the second lesson a big one. I'm mainly trying to have the last lesson the second biggest chapter, so be prepared for that :)  
-Reviews are highly appreciated (thank you so much for the favoriting!)**

**Next chapter: Up as soon as I can get it.  
**


	9. Lesson Number Three

**Okay, maybe this chapter wasn't as long as I thought it was gonna be, but I like the way it turned out. Hopefully you'll like it, too :) We're getting closer to the end, guys... But I think I''m gonna have to add five or six more chapters. My creative wheel is spinning.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.  


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**While Sora took his seat across from him, Riku was busy digging through the bowl of strawberries. He knew that he could use any strawberry for the last lesson, but he wanted to use one of proportionate size first before they went any bigger. So far, he had found extremely large ones and medium ones that were quite round. He was about to give up on searching for a small, pointy strawberry until he found one at the bottom of the bowl. Taking it out, he held it up for Sora to see.

"This is the only one I could find in this bowl, so try not to waste it," he said.

"Do you want me to eat it or something?" asked Sora, confused. "I don't really see the point in this lesson, but if it involves eating strawberries, then I can easily pull this one off."

"No, this isn't about eating the strawberries. It's about something else."

"And what would that be?"

Riku tried to stifle his laugh as he smirked. "I'm going to teach you how to kiss."

Sora's eyes went wide as saucers, causing Riku to release his laughter. If there were anything more awkward to Sora than giving a bouquet of flowers to his best friend as a lesson, it would have to be learning how to kiss. Not only that, but using strawberries as practice.

"Where in the world do you get these ideas?" Sora cried out, reddening in embarrassment. "I don't want to do this! I already know how to kiss, anyway."

"Really, now? Where did you learn, and who did you kiss?"

"I—I didn't kiss anybody. It'll just come as a natural instinct."

"Doubt it." Riku brought the strawberry closer to Sora, almost making it touch his nose. "This is going to teach you how, and with me here to help, you'll become a pro."

"I doubt that. Besides, I'm going to make a fool out of myself for doing this."

"So? Yeah, it's going to be funny, but it'll be worth it if you do happen to get the chance to kiss her. You're going to need at least some experience, right?"

"But—strawberries?"

"I can make you make out with a tree, if you want."

"No, that's okay, let's stick with the strawberries," Sora sighed. He looked at the strawberry with a worrisome expression. "Are you sure about this?"

"I completely am. Now, for starters, I picked a pointy strawberry because we are going to start with a peck, which is probably the most basic type of kiss anyone can give. But there's another reason for picking the pointy one. Do you know why?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then why?"

"I don't know."

"Figured as much. It's because if I used a more round one, you would most likely give it a big, wet peck. Some girls find that unattractive. With the pointy one, it gives you more of a smaller target, which makes you have to go small and gently. Girls find that kind of cute, at least, I think they do."

"This has to be some sort of joke!"

"Sorry, pal, but it really isn't. Come on! If you're not going to do it for yourself, at least do it for Kairi."

Hearing her name almost caused Sora's heart to stop. "F—for K—Kairi?"

"For Kairi."

"Well, here it goes." Sora began to lean towards the strawberry, but stopped halfway. "Riku, I feel like an idiot."

"You'll make yourself feel less of an idiot the faster you get this done."

"Fine, then!" He quickly closed the distance and pecked the strawberry hard, almost squishing it. "How about that?"

"Dude, chill on that peck!" Riku exclaimed. "You practically pushed my arm back on that one! You don't want to peck Kairi so hard that her head falls off. That's totally unattractive if you ask me."

"No one asked you. Plus, you were loading me with lots of pressure."

"You'll be loaded with more once the right time comes. And it won't be coming from me, either."

"But, what if I'm already too late, Riku?" Sora asked, looking at Riku with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I've messed things up so much everytime I got the chance. And the sad thing was that Kairi was waiting for me to make a move. I can face armies of Heartless and not feel a tinge of fear, but when it comes to her, I want to curl up in a ball and hide myself in a dark cave."

"Once again, you're thinking way too much," Riku said, trying to reassure him. "You need to trust in your instincts and follow your heart. Your heart led you to victory and got you back home during your journey, right? So, how can it be wrong in a situation like this?"

"Love is just a crazy game, I guess."

"It might be, but guess what? We're stalling, again! We need to get on with this lesson, or else we'll be missing out on her party because you were too busy trying to swap spit with a bowl of strawberries."

"It was your idea!"

"But you're going along with it, so I don't get all of the blame." He held up the strawberry once again at Sora's face. "Just give this one a nice, sweet peck and we'll move on to the next one."

Sighing, Sora slowly leaned in towards the strawberry and gave it a gentle peck. "How about that? Was that better?"

"Much better, my friend." He tossed the strawberry into Sora's lap and picked out a thicker strawberry. "Go ahead and eat that one. When you're done, we'll take your kiss to the next level."

"The next level?" Sora asked as he bit into the strawberry. "What's the next level?"

"We're going to add more emphasis into the kiss. Instead of just pecking it for a mere second, you're going to keep your lips on it for a little while. Not too long, though."

"That's ridiculous. You're going to watch me kiss the strawberry as you just sit there and hold it up for me?"

"Pretty much, unless you want me to put it on the ground and you can kiss it from there. Or, I could have your mom hold it up for you."

"You can never reason with me, can you?" He threw the remains of his strawberry into the grass and looked towards the next one. "How long do I have to hold it for?"

"Until I tell you to stop."

He slanted his eyes. "That's great." He careened towards the strawberry and put his lips on it. Once he heard Riku say "stop" after a few moments, he quickly pulled off. "How was that?"

"Awful!" Riku said, looking at the strawberry in distaste. "You didn't even kiss the thing. All you did was plant your lips on it. Would you even call that a kiss? What do you think, strawberry man?"

"If I were Kairi, I'd slap the mess out of you and tell you to get lessons," Riku said in his high-pitched tone. "I bet I could kiss better than that."

"Enough with the strawberry man!" Sora yelled. "I don't see what's wrong with what I did, anyway. I did what you told me to do, which was 'keep your lips on it for a little while.' What else was I supposed to do?"

"Kiss it like you mean it," Riku said, reverting back to his normal tone.

"Well, I don't mean it."

"You're going to have to. Don't expect a girl to kiss you back if all you do is place your lips directly on hers. It's not going to do anything." He held the strawberry back up. "Kiss it better this time. And if you don't, I'll just shove it into your mouth."

"Yeah, okay." Sora repeated what he did before, but gave it a little push this time, showing that he was trying to put in more emphasis.

"Stop," Riku said. He waited as Sora brought his lips off of the strawberry. "That was better. You're quite the fast learner, aren't ya?"

"Either that, or I don't want to choke on a strawberry."

"True that." Instead of giving the strawberry to Sora for him to eat, he tossed it aside and picked up an enormous one. "If you do this one good, I won't make you kiss another strawberry. How about that?"

"Sure!"

"Okay. Let's see your making out skills."

Sora creased his eyebrows. "No wonder why you picked the big one and saved it for last."

"What else did you think it was for?"

"I don't know. Something else, I guess."

"Well, whatever it was, throw that thought in the trash can and show me what you can do with this strawberry."

"Do you really expect Kairi and I to make out? I can't even imagine it myself. I don't think that would ever happen to me."

"If you're in a relationship long enough, you will. You can depend on that." He gave the strawberry to Sora. "I'm not going to hold it this time because I don't want to risk getting slobbered on. Show that strawberry what you're made of!"

"What if I don't want to?"

"What if I told you that Kairi was into really, really good kissers?"

And with that, Sora got down and dirty.

-----

Staring at the video camera with her jaw hanging, Sora's mother could not believe what she was seeing. Not only did she not expect her son to be getting a kissing lesson, but using her strawberries as the victims?

'_I must say, Riku is very, very creative,' _she thought as she continued to watch. Sora was now lying on the ground, continuing to suck the flavor out of the strawberry. _'I never knew my son had it in him! I was even surprised when his father was able to do that, too.'_

At that moment, she heard the door open then close shut. "Honey, I'm home!" yelled a manly, yet gentle voice. The floors silently creaked under every footstep. "Where's my boy?"

"Get a look at this, dear," she said, not taking her eyes off the scene before her. "I swear I learn something new about him every day."

Coming to stand next to his wife, Sora's father, who had the same spiky hair as his son, watched what was happening outside. Instead of being shocked at what he saw, he simply laughed. "Wow. Sora learns from the best."

"Learns from the best?" she asked, averting her gaze towards him.

"Yeah, that's what I said!" he exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around her. "I bet Riku's father taught Riku that. Him and I were also best friends back in high school, and he gave me the exact same lesson with the strawberries. I did it so I could get girls, and look what I got? It just happens to be the most beautiful thing the islands have ever seen!"

He laughed again and kissed his wife on the cheek. He turned around and left the kitchen towards the stairs. Sora's mother, now even more surprised with the story she had just heard, brought her hand to her forehead. She did not know whether to be embarrassed for herself or for her husband.

"I fell in love with a moron."

-----

Riku was rolling on the ground laughing while Sora was busy taking the color out of the strawberry. At first, he stared at his friend in disbelief, but when he realized that Sora was actually giving it his all with a strawberry, he succumbed to the giggles.

"Sora!" he attempted to yell as he continued to laugh. "Just—stop! Stop, stop, stop! Oh my gosh, I'm going to burst a kidney! I was kidding about the Kairi thing, anyway!"

Coming to a halt, Sora opened his eyes and found the strawberry slightly squished in his hands. When he took it out of his mouth, it looked like he tried to chew and suck it at the same time. There was strawberry juice all over his hands. He did not notice that some of it was leaking out of his mouth as well.

"I think I might have overdone it," he said as he turned his head to his friend. He found him on the ground staring up towards the sky. "What are you doing?"

"I had to stop watching you make out with a strawberry in order for me to stop laughing," Riku replied, picking his head up to look at Sora. He almost succumbed to his laughter again. "Go look at yourself in a mirror or something! You're such a mess. I'm guessing that strawberry tasted good?"

"Are you kidding? That strawberry was delicious! If Kairi smells like it, I wonder if she tastes like it, too."

"Okay, okay. Too much information there." Picking up the strawberries, he stood up from his position. "I'd rather not have another strawberry suffer from being kissed to death, so I'll save them the trouble and end the lessons here. Besides, we only have two hours left until the party."

"Two hours?!" Sora yelled, jumping up from the ground. "I got to go get ready! I need to find something good to wear—oh, the flowers! I need to do something with the flowers—and I need to wash up and—"

"Whoa there, easy, buddy," Riku said, trying to calm him down. "Let's take things one step at a time. How about you go wash up and I'll get the flowers ready for you? Take strawberry man with you, too. It won't hurt to have memories of kissing lessons with strawberries."

"Yeah, okay, sure. Memories—strawberries—Kairi—lessons—"

He sighed. "You're hopeless." He put the strawberry man into the bowl, gave it to Sora, and pushed him up the stairs into the house. He watched as Sora robotically made his way through the kitchen towards the staircase before heading back to the table to pick up the Jacob's Ladders. He walked back to the house and stepped into the kitchen to find Sora's mother packing away a video camera.

"Yo, second mother," he said, catching her attention. "What's up with the video camera?"

"Oh, my husband left it out on the dining table yesterday," she said coolly. "I found it while I was cleaning, so I decided to put it away for him. You know how lazy he can be."

"That's true. Hey, do you have any ribbons? A pink one, to be specific?"

"Of course I do! They're downstairs in the basement along with all of the other things that we use for the holidays. Feel free to use any of them." She eyed the flowers suspiciously. "But, what are you using my flowers for? There's nowhere else on the island to get them, and you must have a really good reason to pick them out of my garden."

"Actually, it was your son's idea," he said as he placed the flowers on the table. "He wants to give them to Kairi because they're her favorite kind of flowers. I was going to tie them into a bouquet-like thing while he's upstairs getting cleaned up and what not. Is that okay with you?"

She let out a small laugh and smiled. "Well, since that's the reason, then I'm perfectly fine with it. I hope your lessons have done him well."

"Hopefully he doesn't screw anything up tonight, that's my main concern. It might be his last chance." Without another word, Riku headed towards the basement and descended down the stairs. Sora's mother let out a huge sigh and wiped her head off as if she was sweating.

"Whew, that was a close call," she said. "Thank god I took acting lessons back then, or else I would have never been able to pull this off!" She finished packing the video camera and headed up the stairs to place it back in her room.

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**-I had fun writing this chapter. I hope y'all had fun reading it! And if you're wondering, I try not to name Sora's and Riku's parents because I don't really know their names, and I don't feel like naming them. That's why I title them as 'mother' and 'father.'  
-So, like up top before the chapter. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to add five or six more chapters to this story. Ideas have been spinning in my head, like how Sora and Riku are going to get ready for the party, what happens in the party, what happens after, etc. I don't know. I'll just have to see how this is all gonna play out.  
-Reviews? You don't need to, but thanks to all the ones who have :D**

**Next chapter: I'm aiming for before I leave on Thursday.  
**


	10. Getting Ready

**After one week and one day of delay, I now present to you the next chapter of "Heart Ain't a Brain." I hope you guys haven't forgotten what has been happening so far... I almost did :O What can I say? I didn't plan this story out. I'm just going with the flow, to be honest.**

**DISCLAIMER: You should get the point by now.  


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**In the bathroom up on the second floor, Sora was standing dormant with shrugged shoulders in the shower stall. The water pouring out of the showerhead was drenching him, his hair being plastered all over his face. He had already done what he needed to do in the shower, but the realization of what he was going to attempt to do later tonight caused him to become inactive.

'_There is no way I'm going to be able to pull this off tonight,'_ he thought as he stared at the tiled floor. _'All these lessons that Riku taught me—they're probably not going to come in handy when the time comes. Knowing me, I'll probably forget them or mess things up at the spur of the moment.'_

He lifted his head towards the ceiling and watched as the hot, steamy air floated around the bathroom.

'_I should probably get out now before I go to the party looking like a prune.'_

He slid open the shower stall door and noticed that his bathroom turned into a chamber of hot fog. He was used to seeing the bathroom like this after his showers since his shower time, on average, normally took this long. Taking his towel off the rack and stepping out of the shower, he dried his hair off and stood in front of the mirror. Since it was layered with steam, he grabbed a small towel and wiped it down.

Checking out his mirror image, Sora sighed. _'This is going to either be the best night of my life, or the worst. I wish it could be the first choice, but I'm betting the second one would happen. I mess up everything.'_

He finished up in the bathroom, threw on some boxers and a wife beater, and headed towards his room. He opened it to find Riku sitting on his bed struggling with tying a pink ribbon around a bouquet of flowers.

"Since you are supposed to be the expert on romance," Sora said as he made his way to his closet, "I would think that you'd be able to put together a nice bouquet for a lady in a matter of seconds."

Pausing from his work, Riku looked up at Sora. "I am a relationship therapist, not a gift wrapper," he acquitted.

"Relationship therapist? You haven't even been in a relationship! None that I know of, at least."

"A ladies man doesn't need to be in a relationship to know how to start one."

Pulling out a buttoned-up island shirt, Sora surveyed it, then tossed it onto the floor in distaste. "Just do me a favor and help me out with what I should wear instead of ruining the present with your lack in gift wrapping."

"You almost sound like a girl getting ready for a party," Riku pointed out as he watched Sora repeat the process of throwing clothes everywhere while rummaging through his closet.

"Well, I am going to a party. Is there another way you want me to word it?"

"Um, no." Riku got up from the bed and joined Sora in his search for clothes. "What are you thinking of wearing?"

"I don't know. Something casual, but not looking like a bum."

Riku chuckled. "She calls you that every day, so how can you not look like one?"

"Can you just help me find something to wear? We don't have that much time."

"Who said that we were going to come early?"

Sora pulled his head out of the closet and shot a confused look at Riku. "We're not?" he asked. "Wouldn't she think after a while that we're not coming?"

"We're her best friends, Sora," Riku stated simply. "I doubt that she'd ever think that. Besides, party people always arrive late to parties. And preparation is key for a night like this!"

"I don't think I'm certified to be a 'party person' though."

"You're going to be one if you're with me." Going back to the closet, he pulled out a shirt that caught his eye and handed it to Sora. It was another button-up island shirt, but this one was blue and had a pattern of island flowers on it. "Throw on a white shirt under this and wear some khaki shorts," he commanded. "Don't button up the shirt. I think you'll look pretty decent in it."

"You sure?" Sora asked. Riku nodded. "If you say so." He grabbed the requested clothing from his drawer and placed them on the bed next to the flowers. After he threw it on, he went towards his mirror and examined himself.

"Pretty fly for a white guy!" he exclaimed as he continued to check himself out in the mirror. He struck out a few goofy poses.

"Something still seems kind of off," Riku said as he observed his friend. "I don't know what it is, though."

"Oh, I think I know what I'm missing." Sora stopped his modeling, walked towards his dresser, and grabbed his signature crown necklace. He put it around his neck and glanced at Riku. "How about now?"

"Yeah, that was it." Riku picked up the bouquet from the bed. "What are we going to do with these? You don't want me to work on them, and I know you can't tie a bow to save your life."

"Oh, right. The bouquet." He scratched his head and looked around the room nervously.

"You sure you don't want me to take another hit at it?"

"Wait. Isn't that what mothers are for?"

"Who said that your old man can't tie bows?" called a voice from the hallway. Sora and Riku recognized it to be Sora's father. He now stood at the door and looked at the two boys. "Heard you need some help tying a bow."

"You can tie a bow?" Sora asked unbelievingly.

"Of course I can! I learned it so I could fancy some girls back in my high school days. It didn't work out too well, but that's only because I always picked the wrong flowers." He took the flowers from Riku and examined the bouquet. "Oh, bouquets are easy!

"Really, now?"

"Yeah! All you got to do is this—" He wrapped the pink ribbon around the flowers. "Then this—" He made the knot. "And this—" He did the bunny ears motion. "And voila! You've got yourself a bow," he said as he pulled the loops through. He showed off the bow to the boys.

Sora and Riku's jaws dropped in amazement. They were staring at a perfectly symmetrical bow.

"How did you learn to do that?!" Sora jabbered in awe.

"My mom taught me back in the day," Sora's father answered as he handed the bouquet back to Riku. "So, I guess you could say that that's what mothers are for." He smiled as he ruffled the teenagers' heads and left the room without another word.

"I didn't see that coming," Riku said after a moment. He looked down at the bow. "This has got to be the best bow I have ever seen someone tie."

"I always thought that my dad got flowers from the stores since the bows always looked so perfect," Sora stated as he exited his room with Riku in pursuit. "But anyway, what did you get Kairi for her birthday?"

"Just some hair product stuff."

"You know she always has her hair down."

"It never hurts to try something new."

"I'd love to see when she does." When they entered the kitchen, Sora immediately saw Riku's present on the counter. The present had a good-looking bow on it as well. "If you couldn't tie a bow, then how come yours looks good?"

"That is one of the bows that you could buy from a store and just stick them on there without tying anything," Riku justified. "Where'd your mom go?"

"She's probably out watering the plants or talking to the neighbors. I never know what she's doing."

Riku glimpsed at the clock. It was already six. "Man, I never knew that time moved that fast."

Sora perked up. "Why? What is it?"

"Let's just say that her party starts in approximately thirty minutes."

Sora's heart began to thump. His heart's thumping was almost equivalent to a stampede of angry elephants. "Well—" he choked. He cleared his throat. "Well, you said that we were going to be late, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I did say that." Riku brought his fingers to his chin. "So, since we're coming late, then that technically means that her party starts in forty-five minutes."

"We're only going to be fifteen minutes late?"

"Is that not enough?"

"No, I just don't think I'll be able to bear my nerves for that long."

Sensing Sora's discomfort, Riku reassured him with a big pat on the back. He held out the flowers for Sora to take. "Everything will be fine, Sora. I promise."  


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**-Another short-ish chapter, I know. When the party starts, they're going to get lengthier, so I guess you could call this the "Warm-Up Stage" of the chapters to come. Hah, I don't know. I'm babbling again.  
-I hope to not turn this story into a weekly updated story. I want to get this one done since I have other stories I want to write, and I can't really multi-task when it comes to writing things since my mind gets all lost... So, I'm gonna try harder to get updates in sooner. My schedule isn't the most easiest thing to maintain, but being me, I just make it harder.  
-Questions? Comments? Concerns? Proclaim your undying love for me? Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen X) But I'll accept anything you give me! I'm liking the things I'm getting so far. I actually never expected to get reviews for any of my stories... But I'm lovin' it. Big thanks to my reviewers!**

**Next chapter: Hopefully not another week's worth of waiting.  
**


	11. Party Ho!

**I know that I'm not updating as fast as I used to with this story (even if it wasn't that fast, I still claim for this to be really slow), but I hope that I'll have daily updates or every-other-day updates with this during Spring break. We're almost at the end! I'm guessing maybe a good five or six more chapters to go... Even though I said that like, three chapters ago.**

**DISCLAIMER: NADA NADA NADA!  


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**It was now six thirty. Sora and Riku were sitting at the kitchen table in a comfortable silence. While Riku was busy watching the sun slowly set in the horizon, Sora was blankly staring at the table. He was having yet another inner battle with himself.

So many different scenes were playing out in his mind: ones of him and Kairi together on the balcony, ones of her yelling at him for being the stupid idiot he was, and ones of him saying goodbye to her as he leaves for another journey. With each scene that he thought up, he would come up with one hundred "what if" statements. No matter how many times he tried to get his mind off of the party, he would inadvertently think about it again.

And since it was coming closer to the time of departure, there was no way he was going to get his mind off of it.

Noticing his friend's minor distress, Riku looked away from the sunset and put his full attention on Sora. He saw that Sora was tense in the shoulders, and that his eyes were glazed over in complete thought. He could hear him lightly tapping his foot on the floor and strumming his fingers on the chair.

"You got to take a chill pill, dude," Riku said after examining him.

Sora said nothing in response. He did not hear him, nor did he know that Riku was talking to him.

"Sora?" Riku frantically waved his hand directly in front of Sora's face. He did not even flicker an eyeled. "Hello—earth to Sora! Spiky-haired monkey! Keyblade Master! Porcupine!"

The name calling technique worked to no avail. Getting a little frustrated with his friend's daydreaming, Riku grabbed a strawberry out of the bowl that was still sitting on the table and threw it at Sora. When it hit, Sora automatically turned on like a mechanical robot.

"What the—?" Sora exclaimed, rubbing the spot on his head where Riku had hit. He looked across the table and saw his friend scowling at him with his arms crossed. "Aw, man. I zoned out, didn't I?"

"If it were possible to classify zone outs, then I say that you did a major zone out that time," Riku replied. "I had to physically hurt you to get your attention! You weren't thinking about the party, were you?"

Sora looked away in embarrassment. "I could have been thinking about it for a bit."

"It would help to stop thinking about it. Parties are meant for you to have fun! If you're going to think about any of the negative stuff that could happen, then you might as well not go. And if you don't go, then you'll probably lose the last chance that you'll ever get to tell her how you feel. I'm pretty sure that you don't want that."

"Of course I don't! It's just; all we're doing is sitting here waiting to leave for the party instead of doing something. It's building up all my nerves."

"Well," he looked at the clock, "if we leave now, we'll probably get to her house by six forty-five. We might even arrive a bit later, depending on how slow we decide to walk and what paths we decide to take."

"I'd rather get my legs moving than just sit around."

"Okay, then." Riku got up from the table, grabbed the presents, and started walking towards the door. "Go tell your parents that you're leaving. I'll be waiting outside."

After Riku had exited, Sora ran up the stairs and headed straight down the hall towards his parents' bedroom. He knocked on the door to let them know that he was coming in. When he opened the door, he found his parents having a pillow fight with each other.

"Riku and I are leaving now," he told them, feeling a bit awkward witnessing the pillow fight.

"Okay," Sora's mother yelled without letting her guard down. "Tell Kairi that we said happy birthday! Make sure to kiss her good, too."

Sora hastily shut the door behind him, hearing the sound of his parents' laughter and every strike of a pillow leak through the door.

-----

Trotting slowly through the neighborhood, Sora and Riku walked side-by-side on the sidewalk. They were soon reaching the end of the street that separated the average-income houses from the rich families. Since Kairi lived with the mayor, her house was the biggest one at the top of the hill that oversaw all of Destiny Islands.

Once they crossed the street, Sora stopped and looked up the hill in the direction of Kairi's house. It was almost intimidating him.

"I don't think I'll be able to do this," he muttered.

Riku halted a few paces in front of him and turned around. "What are you talking about?" he said. "Just treat this like any other party that you've been to."

"The only parties I have gone to were yours and Kairi's, though. Maybe some of Tidus and Wakka's, but other than that, I don't have much experience in the partying department."

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Anti-Party. But guess what? You're going to this one. You'll devastate her if you don't." He walked back, grabbed Sora's wrist, and dragged him along. "The amount of butterflies that grew in your stomach are not going to matter at this point. She's your friend, right? So, treat her like one. If any of this love stuff starts to bloom, then it's your call on what you're going to do. But I suggest that you treat her like the best friend she has always been for us."

Sora managed to pull his wrist out of Riku's grasp. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he sighed as he walked on behind him. "I really do need to chill out."

"You better do it quick. Kairi likes the real you, so don't pull off any fake stunts."

"I'm not going to do that!" Sora yelled, almost dropping the bouquet. "I know that I'm acting like an idiot right now because I got bit by the lovebug, but I'm not going to act like someone else just to impress her."

Riku smiled. "Good man! And 'got bit by the lovebug?' I don't know where you're coming up with these phrases, but I think you're getting soft!"

Sora slightly reddened. "It just popped into my mind, okay? And don't tell me that I'm getting soft. You're apparently being the romance expert here, not me."

"What's wrong with that? I can be as romantic-intelligent as I want to be. I'm still hard-to-the-core anyway, so that's not going to matter at all." He grabbed Sora in a headlock. "Besides, if a guy can score lots of beautiful ladies, then he's someone to envy instead of judging him to be a soft kind of guy."

"How come it matters with me? You don't know if I can score with any girls!"

"Because I said so," Riku declared, closing off further argument.

"That doesn't make any sense," Sora mumbled loud enough for Riku to hear, getting a small chuckle from his friend. As the conversation continued, Sora began to forget all about the party. He was now being the same, laid back, cheerful teenager that he was before instead of the nervous, lovestruck boy he was a few hours ago.

This reminded him of how he and Riku were back then before the whole mess of saving the worlds and becoming wielders of the Keyblade. They would always hang out with each other, whether it is just Sora and Riku, or Kairi included. Most of the time, they would be found on the children's island competing against each other. Other times they would be seen playfully arguing with each other, just like they are now. It was safe to say that they were slowly getting back to their lives on the islands instead of constantly fighting to stay alive.

But all of these memories were washed away by the faint sounds of music and partygoers having fun. Sora's mind was now being flooded with thoughts of the party once again.

After realizing that Sora did not laugh at their inside joke, Riku turned around to find Sora's face covered in worry. His eyebrows were creasing every step they took closer to Kairi's home.

"You really do have to chill," Riku said, making Sora focus his attention on him. "Going to a party with a face like that and stiff like a statue? That's not how it goes these days."

"Reality just sucks sometimes," Sora proclaimed as they reached the gates of Kairi's house. "One moment, I'm reliving what it used to be like before the Heartless appeared, and now I'm back to the worried little beetle that I am."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "'The worried little beetle that I am?'"

"That's what my mom calls me. I guess it rubbed off on me."

He laughed. "Whatever, dude."

Knowing that Kairi's house was protected by a secret code to unlock the gate, Sora and Riku did their usual routine of getting in, which was by climbing a tree and jumping over the gate. They already knew what the code was since Kairi tells the code to all of her friends, but they liked to make things difficult. Kairi would always scold them for not using the gate and risking getting hurt, but it would go out one ear and out the other with them.

As they got closer to the house, the sounds from the party got louder and louder. The only sound that Sora could hear was the crashing sound of his heartbeat against his ribcage.

Taking a step onto the porch, Sora drew in a deep breath and sighed. Riku rang the doorbell and stepped back, looking at Sora's face.

"Put your regular face on," he commanded, getting a goofy grin in response.

"I don't plan on messing things up tonight," Sora said confidently for the first time today. "I'll tell her how I feel, and no matter what happens, I'll always still be her friend."

Riku lightly punched him in the arm. "That's what I've been waiting for you to say all day." Footsteps were heard on the other side of the door. "You ready?"

Sora smiled with a confident look in his eye. "I'm ready."

As the door opened to reveal a stunning redhead, all of Sora's confidence seemed to melt away.  


* * *

**-Okay, I'm kind of stuck between making a sequel for this story or not. I'm more on the "not making one" side, but if things work out the way they do, then it might open up a path towards a sequel. It would be a little bit harder to do, but if you have any ideas, just let me know and I'll be able to work with whatever I get :)  
-I don't know about you guys, but Spring break is here! Hope you all have a good one, and if some of you have already had it, then I hope it was good for you! I'll be staying home all week, so no traveling for me.  
-The review button accepts comments, questions, concerns, and criticism. If you don't want to, then that's fine with me.**

**Next chapter: During Spring break! That's all I know for now.  
**


	12. To the Balcony

**I didn't expect to have this chapter come out the way it did (I never really expect anything with this story anymore, ha ha), but I guess I'm quite happy with it. It's kind of interesting, but probably not as interesting with the whole ordeal of using strawberries as part of a love practice session, or whatever you wanna call it.**

**DISCLAIMER: Oh my gosh, only the storyline is mine.  


* * *

**All Sora could do was stand there, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. There she was, the beautiful crimson-haired angel that he has been head over heels for. She may have been dressed in the casual party attire, but the moonlight that reflected off her made her glow. When she gave them her pearly white smile, it made Sora want to pass out.

"Sora! Riku!" she shouted happily. "I'm glad you finally made it!"

"Sora, hide the flowers," Riku whispered to the trembling brunette. He kicked his foot.

"Oh, uh, right," Sora replied as he quickly hid them behind his back.

Kairi gave them a confused stare. "Um, is something the matter? And what was that I just saw?"

"Nothing!" both of them declared.

"Well, the party's inside instead of on the porch, and Selphie got kind of mad that I left during our conversation, so, whenever you're ready, just step inside."

When Kairi left them at the doorway, Riku elbowed Sora hard in the abdomen.

"Whatever happened to being confident?" Riku said. "And you're supposed to give her the flowers at a special time, not right when we got here! You're forgetting almost everything I told you!"

"Sorry, I must've forgotten about all that stuff," Sora said between wheezes. When the pain receded, he straightened himself up and peeked inside the house. A bright chandelier hung from the gold ceiling, illuminating the foyer in a sparkling manner. There were not many party decorations except for the occasional balloon in certain places. In the corner of the foyer was a stack of birthday presents.

"How am I supposed to hide these flowers?" Sora asked as he continued to examine the house. "I can't just hold onto them the entire night. Someone might think that there's something wrong with me."

"There is already something wrong with you, but good point about the flowers anyway," Riku said as he observed the house as well. "Maybe we should hide it behind a plant."

"A plant?"

"Yeah, so it could blend in with it and stuff. It won't be too visible, I don't think."

"But, what happens when Kairi and I get alone somewhere? I can't just tell her 'be right back' so I could go get it and probably completely ruin the moment."

Riku brought his hand to his chin. "Yet another good point that my friend has brought to my attention."

Sora scratched his head. "What are we going to do?"

"Where were you planning on secluding her?"

"It's not like I'm going to forcefully isolate her away from everybody!" He took a step back from the door and lowered his voice. "But, I was hoping that we could talk on the balcony, where it overlooks everything towards the ocean."

"That's a good spot for a romantic getaway."

"We're not getting away from anything, Riku."

"You're getting away from the party, Sora."

He sighed. "Shut up." Sora was about to enter the house until Riku pulled him back. "Uh, don't we have to go in?"

"If you want to get your bouquet noticed, then fine, be my guest," Riku said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"What else do you expect me to do with this thing, then?"

"Well, we have to hide it, right?" he asked, receiving a suspicious nod from Sora. "So, why not hide it in the place that you're hoping to talk to her at? I'm sure her balcony has plenty of plants, if I remember it correctly."

"Yeah, it has quite a bit of them. But, the only way to get to the balcony is by going through the house."

"That's the safe route, my lovestruck friend." He grinned mischievously. "We're going to take the other way around, where I'm pretty sure we'll go unnoticed."

"Wouldn't Kairi notice that we're not in her house yet?"

"Not if we're quick." Riku hopped off the porch and started making his way towards the backyard.

Sora gulped. "I don't know if I should ask this, but, what is this other route that we're taking to the balcony?"

Before Riku hopped over the fence, he turned around to look at Sora. "How else are we going to get there? We're going to climb that piece of marble, just like how Romeo did to get to his beloved Juliet!"

Sora just stood there in surprise, neither feeling fear, uncertainty, or worry when Riku stated how they were going to get to the balcony. With a puzzled look on his face as he started to follow his silver-haired elder, only one question came to his mind.

'_Since when did he start reading romantic plays?'_

-----

Back inside the house, Selphie was done gossiping with Kairi on the latest fashion trends and what was 'in' and what was 'out' on the islands. Kairi was never really interested in other people making fashion statements, but being the overly nice person that she was, she stayed to listen to her. A small island breeze made its way to the party people, causing everyone to feel slightly chilly.

"Kairi, do you have the air conditioning on?" Selphie asked as she covered her arms.

"No, I turned it off before you guys came here," Kairi replied. "Sora and Riku probably forgot to close the door. I'll go check on them."

Kairi left the party room and made her way across the kitchen towards the foyer. From afar, she could see that the door was still left open.

'_Are they still standing out there?'_ she thought as she got closer to the door. _'Those boys are weird sometimes.'_

When she reached the door, she pulled it farther open to reveal that the porch was empty. Confused, she stuck her head outside and looked both ways, seeing no signs of silver hair or a spiky head. Closing the door, she looked around the foyer to see if they already came inside.

'_Where in the world could they be?'_ she asked herself. _'I didn't see them come in, and I know they're not in the party room because I just came from there.'_

Sighing, she decided to go back to the party.

'_They'll show up eventually. I hope they're not doing something stupid, again.'_

-----

"Riku, I think this is kind of stupid," Sora said as he stared up at the balcony. "Look how high up it is! It didn't look so far down when I stood up there before, but when you're down here, it's colossus!"

"Oh, come on," Riku replied as he made his way towards one of the pillars. "I'm sure this climbing experience won't compare to any dangerous things we've done on our adventures! Besides, I saw you climb up those pillars easily in the Land of Dragons when I was being the secret stalker. This'll be a piece of cake!"

Riku did make a point there. Sora had made the pillar climbing look so easy back when he helped Mulan save the emperor from the crazy Mongol. But, this time, he did not have his keyblade with him to cast Aeroga in case he did happen to fall.

"I don't understand why I follow up on your crazy ideas," Sora yelled as he watched Riku begin climbing up the pillar. Following behind him, Sora jumped up and started to pull himself up the pillar. "Besides, these pillars feel more slippery than the ones over in the Land of Dragons."

"Stop worrying! We're not going to fa—" Before Riku could finish his sentence, his foot slipped on the pillar, causing him to fall. Sora ducked his head so that Riku wouldn't hit him, and listened as Riku screamed and made a loud thud on the ground. He started laughing.

"Serves you right!" Sora hollered to his friend in pain on the ground below. He began to climb higher until he began to lose his footing as well.

"Looks like someone's faltering!" Riku yelled back as he positioned himself at the base of the pillar.

"Nonsense, I'm perfectly—" He could not finish his sentence either as he fell down in the same manner as Riku. Instead of falling onto the hard ground below, he crashed into something firm yet soft.

"Ugh, did I land in mud?" Sora muttered when he sat up. He held his head. "That one hurt my head."

"If some fat boulder didn't decide to land on me, maybe I would have said that only my arm was hurting," mumbled Riku as his voice was muffled under Sora's weight. "But no, my whole body just had to suffer the pain, didn't it?"

Sora turned around to see that he indeed landed on Riku. He slowly got up from the ground. "Oh, sorry about that."

Riku coughed and wheezed when he got up. "I'm sure you are," he managed to say between pants.

Knowing that it would be best if the two of them did not climb back up the pillar, Sora looked around for any alternative routes. After looking over many bushes, gardens, and gnome statues, his eyes spotted something in the distance. When he squinted his eyes to see what it was, he slapped his forehead.

"I'd hate to say it, but we're probably the most biggest idiots in the world," Sora said.

"What is it?" Riku asked as he positioned himself on the pillar once again.

"We didn't need to climb up those pillars to get to the balcony." He pointed to the object in the distance. "There were stairs right there."

-----

Kairi glimpsed at the clock on the wall. It had already been fifteen minutes since Sora and Riku arrived, and there were still no signs of them. She checked every room that she thought they would most likely be in, but luck had no chances for her. She was now on the couch in the party room with a worried expression on her face.

"Kairi, what's wrong, ya?" Wakka said as he sat down next to her. "What's with the long face?"

"Yeah, you look so gloomy!" Tidus exclaimed as he took a seat on the opposite side of her.

"Oh, nothing really, you guys," Kairi replied, trying to put on a smile. "It's just, Sora and Riku disappeared after I left them on the porch, and I haven't seen them around since."

"Maybe they thought you rejected them, since you left them out there and all," Tidus said, receiving a shocked expression from Kairi. "I mean, I would have felt rejected if no one properly led me into the house—"

"Why don't you just make the poor girl even more worried, Tidus?" yelled Selphie at her male companions. She put on a softer tone. "Don't listen to them, Kairi. Sora and Riku wouldn't just leave, and I doubt that they would have felt rejected."

"Aye, we're just tryna help her out, ya?" Wakka retorted. "She probably didn't even check the balcony yet."

"The balcony?" Kairi asked. "Why would they even be there? And they had to have gone through the house first to get there, and no one even saw them enter the house!"

"Anything is possible when it comes to Sora and Riku," Tidus said as he rested on the couch.

She sighed. "Yeah, you're right." Kairi got up from the couch and started walking towards the balcony doors. "I probably should have thought of that."

After Kairi slowly left the room, Selphie whacked Wakka and Tidus hard upside the head with her soda can.

* * *

**-Lol. I kind of giggled when I typed this. I was actually thinking of having Sora and Riku do some sort of Inspector Gadget sneaking around in the house to get to the balcony, but the pillar climbing seemed to be the better choice.  
-Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Although I'm getting one or two reviews per chapter now, I'm happy with the feedback I'm receiving. Thanks to all of you! Just to know that you're reading this story makes me smile :)**

**Next chapter: Maybe later today? Maybe tomorrow? Maybe later on in the future?  
**


	13. Expressing Oneself

**This is officially the second to last chapter of "Heart Ain't a Brain." I was thinking that I would have two more, but I guess not. This story is coming closer to the end. Oh, and I think this is the longest chapter, even though I know it's not that lengthy.**

**DISCLAIMER: Since the word 'disclaim' is already in 'disclaimer,' wouldn't you know what I'm about to say?  


* * *

**"You know, I have this weird feeling that she's going to open that balcony door any minute now," Sora said nervously, referring to their cherry-headed friend. He kept looking between Riku and the door.

"That's not what we're supposed to worry about at the moment!" yelled Riku, who was busy scooting back a heavy vase filled with flowers. "Our main priority is to hide that bouquet of yours. Come over here and help me pull this out!"

Sora placed his present on a nearby bench and went to help out Riku. He thought that Riku was exaggerating about how heavy the vase was, but once he had a pull at it, he was already almost as tired as his best friend was. He then examined the vase, noting how thick it was and how much soil was placed in it for the very few plants that were being grown.

"I think there are only about five or six flowers in here," Sora announced. He looked back to his huge bouquet of Jacob's Ladders. "Can't we use another plant? I doubt that these little plants are going to hide mine. Plus, these are red and yellow. Mine are blue."

"She won't notice," Riku stated simply as he continued to pull. "I know that she has lived here for a long time, but I don't think she analyzed every single detail in her house to notice that her vase now held blue flowers. Besides, we're not putting it in the vase. We're pulling it out far enough so that you can hide your bouquet in here and easily grab it before you give it to her."

"Oh, no wonder why you're pulling it out."

"Sora, are you serious? Why else would I pull this vase out!"

He flushed in embarrassment. "Let's just keep pulling the thing."

This time, instead of both of the boys pulling at it, Sora moved to the back to push while Riku pulled. They were finally able to move it, but at a very slow pace. Once it pulled out far enough, Riku motioned for Sora to stop pushing.

"Place the flowers behind it, but make sure it's not visible," Riku demanded. Sora followed his orders and carefully tucked them behind the gigantic vase. Since the vase only covered the front of the bouquet, both of the sides were completely exposed.

"What do we do about the sides?" Sora panicked.

"Uh, let me think." Riku searched around the balcony. After a few short moments, he found what he was looking for. "There! Slide the benches over to cover it up."

They were almost done sliding the benches over until the balcony door slid open, causing both of their hearts to jump.

"What are you two doing out here?" asked a cheerful, yet questioning tone. They did not need to turn around to know who it was.

"We're not doing anything, Kairi!" Riku exclaimed as he quickly turned around. He tried his best to smile. Sora, who was too shocked to move, stayed in his position.

"It looks like you two are up to something." She stepped out of the house and slowly made her way towards them. "Sora, what are you doing?"

Riku kicked the bench, causing it to hit the vase, which in turn hit Sora's bench, causing him to stand up straight from the sudden impact. It was almost like a domino effect.

"I'm not doing anything, Kairi!" Sora replied shakily. His knees were slightly trembling, but no one could notice.

"I see," Kairi said suspiciously. "But, how did you guys get to the balcony? You had to have gone through the house, and I didn't even see you guys come in. Matter of fact, no one did!"

"That's because Sora and I can be quite stealthy, eh Sora?" Riku answered, returning back to his normal behavior.

Sora, on the other hand, was completely tense. "Oh, yeah, definitely," he said, trying to laugh his way out of it.

"Anyway, Kairi," Riku headed over to the bench where Sora had originally placed his bouquet and picked up his present. He started to head inside. "I'll just put my present with the rest of them back inside. I forgot to drop it off while sneaking my way over here. I'll see you guys in a bit!" And with that, he exited the scene.

'_You would leave after the most awkward moment,'_ Sora said mentally as he watched Riku slide the balcony door shut, leaving him with the most difficult task of tonight. He did not expect to be alone with Kairi this early into the party. _'Maybe it was part of his plan, to get me alone like this with her. I shouldn't have told him where I wanted to talk—'_

"Sora, you okay?" Kairi asked, breaking Sora out of his mental conversation. Instead of giving an immediate response, he took this time to completely examine her outer appearance. She was wearing a white tank top with pink and red striped plaid shorts. On her feet were pink slippers, and she wore a pretty heart-shaped necklace that glimmered under the moonlight. She looked absolutely stunning to him.

He smiled. "You look beautiful tonight, birthday girl," he finally said, gaining a little bit of his confidence back. He was still scared beyond belief, nonetheless.

"Thank you," she giggled, walking towards the railing of the balcony. "I still don't understand how you and Riku got here without anyone noticing. Care to explain?"

"I don't really have an explanation for it," he replied, still standing in his original spot. _'Should I make a run for the flowers and give them to her now?'_

Before he could decide to go retrieve them, Kairi turned around and saw that Sora had not moved an inch. She laughed. "What are you doing still standing over there? Come stand here with me!"

'_Guess not.'_ Like an obedient puppy, Sora walked up to the princess and stood next to her, leaning on the railing. They were looking out towards the ocean, which reflected the moonlight onto the islands. Trees were silently swaying in the night breeze, and they could see some people taking their evening strolls in the city and the neighborhoods.

"The island is so beautiful," Kairi said quietly, not taking her eyes off of the scene before her. Sora would have responded, but he was currently in a war with himself.

His heart was pounding hard against his chest, telling him to make a move and start up a conversation like Riku had told him before. But his mind told him to keep quiet since it was most likely that he would mess something up. He started to fiddle with his fingers when his nerves got the best of him.

Realizing that she did not receive an answer after a while, Kairi looked towards Sora and noticed his stern expression as he gazed out towards the ocean. She knew this expression well. He always had that expression everytime they were alone together, and that normally meant that he was thinking to himself instead of listening to her. Slightly irritated, she sighed and started walking back towards the house.

"I'm going to go see what the others are doing," she said, trying to hide her disappointment. However, Sora knew why she was acting that way.

'_I'm ruining things already!'_ he mentally yelled at himself as he watched Kairi's retreating figure. When she passed the spot where he and Riku hid the bouquet, an idea came to his mind. He silently made his way to the vase and carefully pulled out the elegant blue flowers.

He took a deep breath. "Wait—Kairi, wait!" he hollered.

She turned around right before she put her hand on the door and locked her eyes onto Sora. It took her a while to realize that something now occupied Sora's right hand. Since it was dark out and she was now quite a distance away from him, she could not see what it was.

"What's that?" she asked, curious.

He gulped, trying to think of what to say. He did not know why, but he wanted her to figure it out instead of having him tell her what it was. He also did not want her to leave.

"Come back over here and you'll figure it out," he replied.

"Oh, so you don't want me to leave then, huh?" she said slyly, slowly making her way back towards him.

"Well, yeah—I mean, no! I don't want you to leave."

"Don't worry, then. I'm not going anywhere." She narrowed her eyes as she continued walking to try to get a view of what it was that he was holding. "It looks kind of large from here," she described as she got closer. "I can tell that there's some sort of plastic wrap around it since it's glowing in the moonlight, and it looks kind of cone shaped—" She gasped when she stood in front of Sora, getting a full view of the contents in his hand.

"Know what they are?" Sora asked as he nervously scratched his head.

"They're—they're Jacob's Ladders," she exclaimed as she gently took the flowers from Sora. She started feeling and smelling the petals. "The blue petals are so pretty. They remind me of the ocean. Where did you even get these? They don't even exist on the island!"

"They do, actually. I found out earlier today that my mom grew them in our backyard."

"You only found that out today?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why?"

She giggled, holding the flowers close to her. "That means you got my present at the last minute, you lazy bum."

Instead of justifying why he got them at the last minute, Sora remembered the first lesson that Riku gave him. From what he remembered, he was supposed to look for a sign that she was supposed to give him when he gave her the flowers. When he gave her the bouquet, Kairi stared at it in awe, and she smiled and smelt it. Those were two of the signs that Riku mentioned.

'_Riku never said anything about giving two signs!'_ Sora thought as he shuffled through his memory to see if Riku had said anything about that. _'What would that mean, then? Does she like it?'_

"You're zoning out again," Kairi pointed out cheerfully as she poked his head, bringing Sora back to reality. She looked down at the bouquet and started to fiddle with it. "They're really beautiful, you know. Thank you for giving them to me."

'_Oh no, not another set of two signs!'_ he yelled mentally, referring to the next thing Riku told him. She looked him back in the eye and started talking to him, and she was now fiddling with it. _'What am I supposed to do when she's giving me two signs?'_

He sighed. _'Maybe I'm just thinking too much, like usual.'_

"Uh, no problem," he finally said, causing Kairi to look him in the eye once again. Her eyes were slowly washing all of his confidence away. "I wanted to—I wanted to make your birthday special, so I—I got you the flowers that you always seemed to talk about." He looked away, face reddening with nervousness. _'I can't believe I actually said that!'_

Kairi looked at him in shock, not expecting him to actually say that to her. "That's so sweet of you, Sora," she said, a happy smile plastered on her face. "I'm going to go put these in the vase."

As he watched her go towards the vase, Sora was having yet another battle within himself. He wanted to tell her right there and then about his feelings towards her, but he was not sure of the right way to put it, nor was he sure if it was the right thing to do. Yes, she had been giving him signs for him to make a move, but he was scared. He was not sure if he was scared of rejection, or for what the future might bring for the both of them.

Riku's words would play in his mind over and over again. _'Just follow what your heart is telling you to do,'_ it would say, but he did not know what his heart was doing, nor did he know its motives. All he knew was that it was pounding hard against his ribcage, motioning for him to follow her and just do something. What that something was, he was not sure, but he had an idea of what it wanted him to do. He just did not have enough courage to do it, and he kept telling himself that he would be way out of line for doing that.

'_Just go ahead and do it,'_ he encouraged himself, watching as Kairi made her way back towards the railing. He followed her, but this time, instead of taking his spot next to her, he remained standing behind her, contemplating on what to do next.

'_I need to do it,'_ he assured himself. He swore his heart was beating one thousand times per minute. _'No, I have to do it. Riku could be right about this. I might not have a chance to do it ever again! It has to be done. But, what if she rejects me?'_ There he went again, with the 'what if' statements. _'What if I get called out again, and I happen to break her heart? What if—oh, just suck it up, Sora!'_

He took a deep, long breath. _'I can't believe I'm about to do this, but, here it goes.'_

"Kairi?" he started. "Can I talk to you?"

She turned around and gave him the smile that he has always loved. "Of course you can, Sora," she replied. "You don't need to ask me." She leaned her back against the railing and put her full attention on him. "What is it that you want to talk about?"

'_Maybe if you didn't look me in the eye, this would come out a lot easier.'_ Since he could not stand staring into Kairi's mystical violet eyes, he chose to look at his feet. "Um, well, this is going to be kind of—kind of difficult to say."

"Don't worry. I have all night."

"But, what would the people at your party say if I kept you out here all night?"

"Would you rather have us go back inside and say it in front of them as well?"

She got him there for that stupid question. "No," he mumbled. "Just forget that I asked that."

She giggled. "Okay. So, what's up?"

Sora nervously tugged at his collar, still keeping his gaze fixated on his shoes. He still was not sure on how he was going to explain himself. "Well, I just wanted to say sorry because of what I've been putting you through—" He stopped. That was not what he had planned to say.

This time, he looked up. Her face screamed major disappointment.

"Sorry for what, Sora?" she asked, rather bored.

'_Sora, you idiot! There's nothing to be sorry for!'_ he scolded himself. He quickly tried to make up a sentence. "Sorry for like, I don't know—leaving you here on the islands for a year? For—for always having to deal with the—with the stupid things I do on a daily basis—"

"You don't need to be sorry for that," she interrupted, slowly making her way towards the house. "It's just who you are, and I like who you are, so there's no need to be sorry. Besides, I guess this is kind of wasting my time."

'_Why do I always mess things up!'_ He could feel his heart tugging at him, telling him to run after her and pour out his feelings for her. That is when it hit him.

'_Maybe Riku was right. I shouldn't be thinking about what to say. I need to follow my heart.'_

"Wait!" Sora yelled, causing Kairi to halt. "I was just ranting on about stupid things. Please—please, don't go. Not yet, at least. I haven't been doing this properly."

She turned around, dissatisfaction still etched on her face. "Not doing what properly?"

"I—I haven't been following my heart properly. It's something I should have done everytime we've been alone together." He looked up to see that he got Kairi to return her interest to the conversation, so he continued. "I think about what to say instead of going with what I feel, causing me to say some completely idiotic things. This may sound kind of stupid, but, you know how they say that our brain tells us what to do and affects our body through emotions?"

"Yeah, we learned that in psychology," she stated.

"Right. But, with what's been going on with me, I've—I've been thinking otherwise." He walked towards Kairi, taking his spot right in front of her.

"What do you mean?" Confusion was swirling in her eyes.

"Well, what I mean is that—" He averted his gaze towards Kairi's hands and interlaced them with his own, "—I believe my heart has been doing some thinking, too. It's been telling me what to do, especially during instances like these, but I've been ignoring it with my own mind, making me do and say things I shouldn't."

"That's kind of strange to think about, but I see what you mean. That still doesn't explain anything, really. What is it that you're trying to tell me?"

'_This is it. I have to tell her.'_ When Sora returned his gaze to Kairi's eyes, he swore that they were sparkling. Why they were sparkling, he was not sure, but it entranced him into keeping his eyes on her and not looking elsewhere. That was something Riku had tried to teach him, but from what he knows now, his lessons were not worth much of anything at this point. He had to figure out what to do on his own, something that Riku did hint to him on their way to the party.

Maybe that was what Riku had been trying to teach all along?

"Kairi," he sighed, closing his eyes, "I don't know how to say this."

She leaned her forehead onto his. "Just let it out, Sora. I'm listening."

He opened his eyes to look right back into Kairi's, causing him to reminisce on their childhood memories. He would remember them playing around on the children's island; sitting on the pier with each other to watch the sun set; building sandcastles until their hands got tired; him always being there for her and her always being there for him—

And, most importantly, the secret place that held a special drawing that meant something sacred to the both of them.

He had to tell her.

"A heart ain't a brain," he whispered, slowly leaning forward, "but, I think I love you."

Before Kairi could reply, he placed his lips onto hers, feeling how soft and warm it was in the chilly night air. He did not hold it long enough for Kairi to kiss him back, for when he broke off, he immediately noticed the shocked (yet looked kind of scared to him) expression on her face. Thinking that he did something wrong, his heart sank in his chest.

"Kairi, I'm so sorry," he muttered before running off, leaving Kairi confused and alone on the balcony. She just stood there, her mind lingering on what it felt like to have Sora's lips planted on hers. She was a little perplexed with why he made it so hasty, but what had caused him to run off?

Suddenly, the balcony door slid open, revealing a tall party-stricken teen.

"Hey, you two, you're missing out on the party in here!" Riku exclaimed. He did not realize that something was wrong until he looked at Kairi's face. Confused, he scanned the balcony for any traces of the brunette. "What's going on? Where'd Sora go?"

"What's happening out on the balcony?" yelled an excited Tidus as he pushed Riku out of the way to get onto the balcony. He was about to make a statement, but the look on Kairi's face made his heart drop.

"Sora," she said before dropping to her knees. Tears were begging to escape her eyes. "He just—ran off, and left me here."

"Well, what are you doing just sitting there?" asked Selphie as she exited the party and made her way to the birthday girl. She grabbed her arm and pulled her off the ground. "It's usually the girl that runs away from the prom and the guy chases after her to make things right, but sometimes the guy would be picking up his frilly pink dress and scurrying away in his high heels and it's the girl's job to run after him!"

Kairi laughed. "That's an odd way to put it, but I see what you mean." She quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Time for the girls to do some chasing."

As Kairi ran off to find Sora, Riku and Tidus gave angry glares to Selphie.

"You would just love to imagine Riku and I in frilly pink dresses and high heels, wouldn't you?" Tidus growled.

"There's nothing wrong with my ways of encouragement," Selphie defended as she made her way back into the party. "Besides, it quickly got her off her feet to go after her pine tree haired lover, wouldn't you agree?"

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**-AH! Just one more chapter and it would be the end of this story. I'm happy, yet sad that it's coming to an end already. I have been wanting to get this done for a while, but I did have fun writing it. I think this is the most fun I've ever had with writing any story.  
-This was definitely one of the more serious chapters of the story. I wouldn't be surprised if I made the last a sort of serious one too, but I kind of already miss my humor in it. Yeah, there's a tad, tad bit of humor in this one, but it got kind of difficult and... well, yeah, that's basically it.  
-Oh, and by the way. If any of you had heard the song before, I totally used a line from it and had Sora say it. I did not jock anything... I just, borrowed, if you will :) Plus, I've been planning to use that line for like, ever.**

**Next chapter: MY GOAL IS BEFORE SPRING BREAK ENDS!!! So, I guess that may mean... tomorrow? Sunday?!  
**


	14. Explaining Oneself

**This is it. The final chapter. I hope you guys don't mind the shortness of it all, but I'd say that it's short and sweet.**

**DISCLAIMER: OHMYGAWD.  


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**The park was very reticent that night. The swings on the playground steadily swayed in the faint breeze. Birds and squirrels were silently chirping in the trees. In the distance, you could clearly see the children's island. The lights inside the nearby houses and stores were turning off, indicating that the island residents were falling into their deep slumbers. It was late, so everyone who had occupied the park before had already gone home.

Well, except for one boy who had run all the way from a party to come out here, of course.

Sitting in the grass was none other than Sora, who was busy staring out into the ocean towards the children's island. Ever since he had arrived at the park, he had been immobile. All he would do was stare at the other island, his mind screaming at him for his previous actions.

He could not believe it. He had actually kissed the girl of his dreams, at her birthday party, right on her balcony. But, when he opened his eyes, he was not ready to see Kairi's completely shocked expression. He instantly regretted that he had even made an attempt to make a move on her at all. Since Riku had only made him make out with expressionless strawberries, he was not prepared for any of the consequences that could occur after.

'_I acted too fast,'_ he thought, eyes still locked on the other island. _'I probably ruined her birthday.'_

His mind then switched to memories of him, Riku, and Kairi doing activities that friends would normally do. They would always be at each other's houses making complete fools out of themselves, or causing trouble with the other neighbors. They would swim around in the ocean and go against each other in races or splashing competitions. And then, when all is said and done, all three of them would sit on the paopu tree on the islet and watch the sun disappear into the horizon.

'_My relationship with Kairi is now going to be so awkward. Our friendship is probably ruined, too.'_ Tears were starting to form in his eyes. Having Kairi as a friend was the most important thing to him, and now, with his current situation, he felt as if he had lost everything.

'_I always ruin anything, don't I?'_

Suddenly, a pair of soft arms wrapped around his abdomen from behind. He was pulled close to someone else's body, and he could feel their head rest on his shoulder. When he caught a glimpse of the all too familiar red hair, his emotions went haywire.

"Kairi?" he asked, surprised.

"I don't get you sometimes," she said. "First, you spill out your feelings for me, and the next thing I know, you're running away."

"I'm sorry." He turned around to face her; her arms still wrapped around him in a light embrace. "I guess I'm still not doing this properly."

She scooted closer to him, hugging him tighter. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I still don't understand what you mean by that."

"Like I said before. I haven't been following my heart properly."

"Is that why you ran off?"

"Well, no. I ran off because of the look on your face."

"What kind of face was I making?"

"You don't know what you looked like?" She shook her head. "Um, you looked kind of shocked. And maybe a bit scared. I ran because I thought I did the wrong thing and that I shouldn't have kissed you."

"That's why you should stay around and explain to girl before you make assumptions. From what I know, we're pretty hard to read."

"Oh, I already know that," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her to hold her closer to him. "You see, I've liked you for a really long time. I think I started crushing on you ever since you washed up here. You were the reason why Riku and I would compete with each other all the time. I'd always lose to him, so that kind of made me think that I wasn't worthy of you, since if Riku could easily beat me, then there was no way that I could protect you from anything else."

She giggled. "You proved that wrong. You've protected me along with other worlds from the darkness."

"I guess. But, what also kept me from admitting my feelings was the fact that I might get called out again to save the worlds. I would have been scared—not from the danger that it can bring, but from breaking your heart. If I happened to never be able to return, I would break the promise of coming back to you. I already sort of know what it feels like to lose a best friend."

"You know, I think you're just being silly."

"Why's that?"

"Because I think you're thinking too much," she replied, smiling up at him.

"That brings up explanation number two. You see, I've been thinking about things I know that I shouldn't have been thinking. That caused me to not go after the things my heart wanted. I would ignore my heart all the time, thinking that I knew what was best for myself. It does sound kind of strange that I'm saying that my heart acts on its own, but I believe it does since it always wants to rip out from my body everytime I see you. With me always ignoring it, I guess it got impatient with me."

She released her hold on him and placed her hands on his torso, feeling his heartbeat. "I sort of get what you're saying, but I still don't really understand. I know, I'm sounding like some really clueless schoolgirl who has a crush on her best friend—"

"Wait," he interrupted. "Does that mean you like me?"

"Isn't it obvious, Sora? I swear you can be so naïve sometimes. But, from what you were saying, it's kind of confusing with you saying that your mind says one thing but your heart wants something else."

"That's basically it right there." He took Kairi's hands in his. "A heart can't add, subtract, or divide, nor could it ever make decisions. But, it's telling me it's right."

"I still don't get it," she said, giving him a lost expression.

"Then I don't think any of my explanations would clarify anything I've been trying to say."

"If you can't say it, then give me an example."

He blushed. "Okay." Without giving her a warning, he hesitantly leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Deep down, he was still a bit frightened that he would get rejected, but that all vanished when he felt her kiss her back. His hormones were flying high, so before the kiss got more intimate, he broke it apart. If the kiss went any further, he feared that he would black out from the phenomenon.

"My heart had been telling me to do that for a long time now," he breathed, still feeling the sensation of it all. "My mind would always avoid it, thinking that it would be better to save our friendship in case I wasn't supposed to have kissed you."

She licked her lips. "I guess I understand now. Besides," she leaned her forehead on his, "examples are always better than explanations."

He grinned happily as he pulled her into a warm embrace. He could feel his racing heart recede back to its normal pace, almost as if it was telling him that it was satisfied. And, for the first time in ages, his mind was filled with joyful thoughts and eager happiness as he held onto his love. His body finally felt at peace.

It was safe to say that the internal war of the heart and the brain had ended in mutual agreement.

"Happy birthday, Kairi," he said as he brought her in for a passionate kiss.

----

"See? I told you it was worth following her!" whispered an overjoyed Selphie as she and a trio of boys hid in a nearby bush. She was filming the special moment on her camera.

"That's perfect blackmail," Tidus declared as he peeked over Selphie's shoulder to get a glimpse of the action. "I can't wait to show people at school. They'll be all over them! Their embarrassed faces will make my year."

"Brudda," winced a pained Wakka, "I'd enjoy watching this better if you weren't kneeing me in a very tender spot, ya? I might need it in the future."

"Oh, my bad."

"There is a girl present, you know," Selphie announced quietly.

"So what? I'm sure you can deal with our conversations."

"When it comes to you two talking about the baby making part of the male anatomy, then no, I'd rather not hear about it."

"Well, how about you and your—"

"I'm happy for them," cut in Riku as he tried to change the subject. "But, this is going to suck a bit. I'm going to become the third wheel!"

The three other teens looked back at him. Their faces were emotionless.

"Sucks for you," they chorused as they went back to their previous actions.

Riku sighed. "Can't I at least get some sympathy here?"  


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**-Done. It is finally finished. If it disappointed you guys, then I'm really, really sorry. I kind of suck at finalizing things, but I tried my hardest with this. Otherwise, I hope you guys enjoyed the story! It was a great run.  
-For the future... Right now, I think making a sequel would be difficult to do. I have had people inform me that they would like a sequel, so, if you would like me to write one, I'll try. I'll just need some ideas on what it should be about before I attempt anything. I would rely on my brain to make something up, but I'm a bit afraid of its capabilities.**  
**-Other than that...**

**THE END.  
**


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